'You can't use a competitor's phone': Employee collects 9 hours of OT and gets new boss fired after not being allowed to make a call during a blizzard and power outage

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 1, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

Something bosses never seem to consider when enforcing strict rules is the consideration of life events that are out of everyone's control. In this instance, we have a fancy new boss from the big city who moved out into a rural area to work for a company that runs local cell phone towers. One employee was threatened with termination if he was caught using a competitor's phone ever again. The confrontation itself was already a bit much.

Well, flash forward to a power outage in the most remote area that the company covers. The employee was caught in a snowstorm and had to drive back and forth a bunch of times, documenting everything in an email he sent when power was restored. His boss was not too happy to hear that he ended up collecting nine hours of overtime without a meaningful update during the power outage, but how was he able to give them that update without being allowed to use his competitor's phone? 

Keep scrolling below for the full play-by-play. For more, here's a story about a worker who refused to return to the office.

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9997084160
    via Gustavo Zambelli
  • 02
    Well folks, for those of you who don't know i work on cell phone towers. I used to work an extremely remote rural area for a now defunct small cell phone company. the conversations are to the best of my recollection. The area | worked was the type of area where you could drive for hours and not see anything but field, forests, and animals.
    via MichigaCur
  • 03
    Most of the sites I had were what is referred to as "island sites" meaning they don't hand off to another cell tower. And most of these sites were about 30 minutes apart on a good day...
    via MichigaCur
  • 04
    er well I worked nights, but you get the drift. So it came around that a competitor had located quite a few sites near our sites. I being of the mindset of efficiency purchased a phone from them, and with approval from my boss. kept it ready especially during upgrades. But he was the type when anyone above him says "boo". He'd jump and ask if he jumped high enough or should he jump again.
    via MichigaCur
  • 05
    So a couple of months later bosses boss leaves and we get new bosses boss who's spent 250% of his life in the confines of New York city. Within his first week, he's working the switch and sees me call in from our competitors number. Of course he takes offense to this and it quickly comes down that
    via MichigaCur
  • 06
    nobody may use a competitors phone. I bring up my concerns, but you know... They don't need to do this in new York city, so we're not going to do this. Mind you my job is to shut down our sites and upgrade or repair them. Yes I'm the guy you love to hate when you can't make a phone call.
    via MichigaCur
  • 07
    And so it happens a short time later, I'm at one of my most remote sites, a 45 minute drive to the next site on a good day. About 4 hours from home. I do my diligence, call the switch tell them what I need them to change and shut down the site. An hour later sites not up. I go through everything on my end, yep everything's good... Awee ☐! Now there's a couple of pay phones but...
    via MichigaCur
  • 08
    they were the competitors phone. So I start driving. It takes me about 1.5 hours to get to the next site because of a freak that sites down too. Roll on blizzard. to the next site, usually about 30 minutes but it's snowing hard and the 2.5 hours on the road roads are
    via MichigaCur
  • 09
    after leaving the original site, I finally get service, pull over and in 5 minutes we figured out the switch crossed a number and took down the wrong site. Switch promises to fix it and I drive 3 hours back to the original site. 30 minutes later its still not up. This time it takes an hour to get to the closest site, call the switch again, they get it up and after about 30 minutes i verify it's up. Hurray!
    via MichigaCur
  • 10
    But I still have to drive back, clean up and make some testing calls. 18 some odd hours after I left my driveway, I pull back in and submit my time, complete with the OT. It's my Friday, I turn off my phone and hit the bed.
    via MichigaCur
  • 11
    Monday morning, I turn on my phone for our weekly call in meeting and I you not it buzzes with new texts and voicemals for 20 straight minutes all from boss and bosses boss. I jump on the call and first thing I hear is bosses boss.
    via MichigaCur
  • 12
    BB "Why the fk did you have a nearly 9 hour outage for a 30 minute upgrade!" before I get a word in "and how dare you claim 9 hours of OT when you were clearly fl job." around not doing your
    via MichigaCur
  • 13
    ME "well there were a series of issues outside of the site and a freak snowstorm slowed my response" I hit send on emails I had already prepared before clocking out for the weekend with full rundown of events of the night,
    via MichigaCur
  • 14
    as a reply to the emails coming down from him dismissing my needs for a competitors phone. And included his boss (vice president of the company)
    via MichigaCur
  • 15
    BB "I don't want to fi hear excuses from you, why didn't you just use a pay phone and call for help" literally everyone on the call groaned.
    via MichigaCur
  • 16
    ME, "in case you don't remember I just replied to a series of emails where you forbade me under threat of termination, from using a competitors phone." at this point I hear VP join our call. "and since payphones are owned by a competitor, I spent 6 hours driving around in a blizzard searching for service, instead of spending 45 minutes to an hour and making a call on a competitors phone."
    via MichigaCur
  • 17
    BB "I never f threatened to terminate anyone! Don't be stupid you could have used a pay phone."
    via MichigaCur
  • 18
    VP cuts in "it appears BB that you do not remember what you said, and Mr Cur has clearly documented his actions on the night in question. BB please call me immediately, thank you everyone else for your time this morning, please have a good day, this meeting is over"
    via MichigaCur
  • 19
    BB was removed shortly afterwards having a fairly Rocky rest of his short employment. I now work for the company which purchased our competitor. I've moved to my home state though still work a rural market, it's not quite as bad.
    via MichigaCur
  • 20
    TL/DR I worked for a small cell phone company in a very rural area. I used a competitors phone while working on sites. A new boss did not like this and forbade me from using a competitors phone under threat of termination.
    via MichigaCur
  • 21
    During a freak blizzard I ended up with an extended outage driving around looking for service collecting many hours of overtime, contributing to bosses own termination.
    via MichigaCur
  • 22
    Edit because it's been asked a few times how bosses boss knew I wasn't using one of our phones to call in with. In the US your ten digit phone number is set up by the area code (first 3 numbers) exchange (second 3 numbers)
    via MichigaCur
  • 23
    then number (last four). The exchange was pretty much owned by the phone company providing the service before porting became a thing. So in our case we had two or three exchange numbers
    via MichigaCur
  • 24
    at the time. Like 406 and 685 (random numbers).. so when I called in on a 962 (again random number) he knew I was not using one of our phones. Also, there's ways in the switch to tell how the call is coming though, if it's on our equipment or not, if someone wanted to look.
    via MichigaCur
  • 25
    Survive1014. Moral of the story: CYA and document, document, document your work and instructions given.
    via MichigaCur

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