Hotel employee cleverly complies with higher ups' demands to never use spare key, leaving millionaire client stranded on biggest event of the year

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Sienna Varady
Jun 28, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

Collaborating with managers is not always easy. There are situations in which workers should quietly submit to commands and obey them with humility,  even if doing so might not produce the most favorable results.

The story below is an account of a clever hotel employee. The original poster (OP) has worked in the hospitality sector for a considerable amount of time. Even under the best of circumstances, the management overseeing the hotel's day-to-day operations was, at best, subpar. To increase production, they forbade the use of duplicate keys, declined to fix broken equipment, and kept staffing levels low. Despite the managerial team's initial success with this approach, the hotel staff struggled to meet the demands of a wealthy client who reserved the entire property for more than a week.

Nevertheless, make sure to read the story below if you're curious about how it all came crashing down! After you're through, don't forget to read the story of the supervisor who protects his team from the irrational demands of a client, winning over $100,000 in compensation for the personnel and the business in general!

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  • 01
    Only one set of keys for the hotel.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 02
    I used to work at a hotel on a large property that did a lot of business conferences. We had golf buggies to get around, 10 different conference rooms plus, lots of other hotel facilities, storage rooms etc. Upper management had a strict rule that important locks could only have one set of keys. Upper management also liked to "save" money by never fixing things when they broke. It must've looked good on paper.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 03
    One week we had a big spending client who had booked out the hotel for the week. Night one our sales team had got the times wrong for their dinner of several hundred people so all available staff were sent over 2 hours early to start setting up. The hotel's General Manager (GM) announced he would be over shortly to see how things were going, which was almost unheard of for him. What he found was about 20 staff standing around outside the venue. The conversation went something like this:
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 04
    GM: Why is everyone standing around? Supervisor(Sup): We don't have the keys. We sent a staff member looking for the other supervisor who has the keys now. GM: Where are your other sets of keys? Sup: We've only been given the one set of keys. GM: Why don't the staff have a radio on them? Sup: Radios have been broken for over a year and never approved to be replaced. GM: Why did you only only send one staff member to look for them? Sup: We only have the one working golf buggy.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 05
    GM grumbles and sends another staff member off on his buggy to look for the keys. Eventually, after everyone standing around for nearly 20 minutes the keys turned up. The GM was stressed out of his mind that such a big client might be kept waiting. For the supervisor it was just another Monday. Malicious compliance: The supervisor had access to a backup set of keys that they were strictly forbidden from using. Usually in a situation like this
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 06
    they would quietly use the forbidden keys and everything would go smoothly. But because the GM decided to be there they didn't mention the forbidden keys, causing delays and panicking management. Fallout: The next week, each supervisor got their own set of keys. A few weeks later we got radios for the department. Upper management also started checking in on how things were going from time to time. Apparently making rules without knowing how things actually work isn't such a good policy.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 07
    unkyduck · 12 hr. ago Back in the early 80's we had a key piece of equipment crucial to our newscast, with the only system backup 8″ floppies locked in the chief engineer's office.... He goes home at 5, the news is at6 and 11... what could possibly...
    via u/unkyduck
  • 08
    Overall-Tailor8949 · 12 hr. ago An old Chyron or equivalent? I got involved in video in the 90's, broadcast in 2001. The TV station I worked at had JUST retired their 2" decks, we still used the 1" reel-to-reels for some commercials and programming though.
    via u/Overall-Tailor8949
  • 09
    SkwrlTail · 14 hr. ago I work in a much smaller hotel, and we have a master key that unlocks the various storage and utility rooms, as well as the manager's office and the breakfast area. This is kept on a keychain so whoever is on shift can use it.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 10
    As night shift, it was my duty to unlock the breakfast area, and occasionally I would need to get into a utility room to flip breakers or other stuff. I needed that key. But one employee kept forgetting to put it back. He was a ideal employee besides that quirk - seriously, he really was a great guy so the manager was reluctant - to write him up for it.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 11
    So after a few times, I came up with a plan. I 'forgot' that I had the key in my pocket. No problem be back in an hour, there we go all fixed. But what I had actually done was go and get a copy made.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 12
    So now I have my own master key and it doesn't matter how many times anyone forgets to put the original key back. My manager has no idea I have it, even though he's seen me using it. It just never processed.
    via u/SkwrlTail
  • 13
    theflamingheads OP 14 hr. ago I feel like this is the way that the world actually continues to function but nobody realises it.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 14
    Wog3827 12 hr. ago I was working security, early 2000's and the company asked if I could do an overtime shift. Sure. I get to the site and the officer I'm relieving is someone I've worked with numerous times. He hands me the keys and says be careful with this one. He shows me a key that's seen better days. This is the ONLY master key
    via u/Wog3827
  • 15
    and according to both the client and our managers if we break it they're requiring. whoever broke it to pay for rekeying the whole building ($20,000+). So, I didn't open ANY doors. Period. If someone needed in, I said sorry but I'm not able to unlock any doors because if I break the key it'll financially ruin me.
    via u/Wog3827
  • 16
    LostDadLostHopes 15 hr. ago I can envision t his happening with such clarity... Forbidden Keys? Oh no. I'm not touching them.
    via u/LostDadLostHopes
  • 17
    theflamingheads OP · 14 hr. ago Nobody outside of the department (aka. the decision makers) had any idea of how things worked. I'm pretty sure none of them even knew about the forbidden keys.
    via u/theflamingheads
  • 18
    • Azure_Wolf 14 hr. ago Not exactly keys but my work has codes on some doors. I am 1 of 3 people with the code to the server room, 1 of 2 with the code to the boiler room, but for some reason the cupboard where we keep the spare stationery & biscuits / crisps for meeting,
    via u/Azure_Wolf
  • 19
    I'm not allowed the code for! The only reason I want the code is there is a fuse box in that cupboard I might on a very rare occasion need into. I have argued numerous times it makes no sense for me to have access to the server and boiler but not this fuse box...
    via u/Azure_Wolf
  • 20
    Ich_mag_Kartoffeln 12 hr. ago At a previous job I was a bottom level pleb. But due to a unique set of circumstances, I was qualified (the only one so qualified) to run two different departments. So I had full sets of keys for both.
    via u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
  • 21
    It was quite amusing when your boss (nominally 3 levels higher than you) has to come and ask you to open the door for him. Because he's not high enough up the chain of command.
    via u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
  • 22
    13Direwolf13. 11 hr. ago I had a similar experience with accessing and ordering through our team portal. I was overlooked for a supervisor position, but was the only person trained to work in all 6 departments, and I often needed to order things, both routine and one offs.
    via u/13Direwolf13
  • 23
    I discover that I somehow have higher clearances and approvals than my boss's boss. Both of them had to come to me at least once a week to expedite something that would take them a week. Felt good
    via u/13Direwolf13
  • 24
    PatchworkRaccoon314 3 hr. ago Upper management can never be trusted with keys, I swear. At work they finally got around to getting a service to bring us propane tanks for the patio heaters in winter. The cages for the propane tanks came with those big round padlocks and a set of three
    via u/PatchworkRaccoon314
  • 25
    identical keys on one loop that open them both. Upper-management said nobody was to take any of those keys for any reason. They need backups in case one gets lost. What a joke when they're all stuck together, right? Well, I'm lower management, which gives me a license to be chaotic good, and I promptly take
    via u/PatchworkRaccoon314
  • 26
    one of the keys off and put it on my personal keychain. Sure enough, a few weeks later it's freezing cold, the patio heaters are running out of propane, the customers are getting upset, and someone's lost the keys to the cages. They're trying to call the company to see if someone can come up with a backup set of keys, but it's
    via u/PatchworkRaccoon314
  • 27
    Saturday so lol good luck with that. I pull up to work, hear the news, and just go unlock them with the key I kept on me. Of course I'm not going to lose the d thing. They let me keep whichever keys I wanted from then on. n
    via u/PatchworkRaccoon314
  • 28
    "You brought it on yourself”
    via canva

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customer service Like a Boss boss workplace-stories hotel hospitality malicious compliance terrible-bosses Professional At Work work coworkers talesfromyourserver workplace Reddit
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