'I quit on the spot and went to work for his competition': 20+ Employees who immediately quit to get back at their petty bosses and entitled coworkers

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 29, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Quitters never win? Yeah, right. In many cases, it's best to quit while you're ahead, as the people who replied to this r/AskReddit question can tell you firsthand. One person requested to hear stories about people who quit with zero advance notice---and why it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

For a lot of workers, poor management is often the root cause of their quitting. Employees might spend months resenting their bosses before ever considering quitting. For example, some people will politely ask their managers for time off, giving the boss months to approve the request and find another worker to take their shift. Then, the manager will claim that they just cannot find anyone else to take that shift they've known about for the last 6 months… and insist their hardworking employee needs to cancel that beach trip and work a shift. It just shows how little some managers think of their employees. If someone is working hard for you, a little appreciation for their efforts goes a long way. 

That's why a lot of people didn't give their two weeks' notice, but instead, just quit on the spot. They let their bad bosses have exactly the amount of respect they gave to their employee! 

Up next, read about these workers who made stunningly large mistakes but weren't fired, like one person who "ignored instructions… and dropped a $250,000 machine." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10421416448
    via Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    People who quit without notice, what straw broke the camel's back?
    via u/BubbaHoStep
  • 03
    McHildinger I was one of about 6 people working at a computer repair shop. Boss told us that anybody who passes the A+ certification test would get a $1/hr raise. 6 people take the test, 5 pass it, and I got the highest score of us all. Boss didn't give me a raise because "you're a kid, what do you need with money, you gonna buy toys with it?".
    via u/McHildinger
  • 04
    I was about to be a Senior in high school, 17 at the time. And yes, I quit on the spot and went to work for his competition for $2/hr more than he was paying me.
    via u/McHildinger
  • 05
    Pickle-Standa... I was a shift lead in a kitchen where none of the management knew anything about BoH. I ran grill, sauté, expo, and ovens solo during every peak shift. I ordered trucks, prepped all week for weekend brunch, wrote kitchen schedules, coordinated kitchen cleaning projects, contacted vendors for repairs, and generally ran the kitchen's
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 06
    day to day. I was given the keys and started opening 6 days a week. I was working 55+ hours and loving it. I expanded our brunch service to Fridays as well as Saturday/Sunday and I come up with an early week menu to use up leftover brunch items and minimize waste. I helped grow weekly sales from 40-45k to 75-80k in three years.
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 07
    I started having issues with closing management on shifts where I wasn't there. I'd get in at 6am to open and the restaurant was left a mess and prep/stocking wasn't completed. I talked to the staff and tried to get them to help out but I had no support and follow through from the actual managers. This went on for weeks.
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 08
    Then one week I was in at 5 for Friday Brunch prep. I was prepping sheets of bacon. and went to the back to pull the biscuits I had prepped the day before. I had left them on a speed rack. I found them on a shelf stacked on top of each other. The weight of the trays had smashed every biscuit into single sheets of dough on the lower trays. The speed rack had the dressings and cold items.
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 09
    from the line close the night before. I did about 90% of the brunch prep by the time the "opening" manager showed up at 8:30 (we opened at 9.) I told her what was left to set up the line. She asked why I was telling her. I laid the sheets of dough in front of her, dropped my keys on top, and walked out.
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 10
    I got nearly 50 calls from them that day and dozens of texts. I didn't respond to a single one. A few days later, the owner of the store called me and asked who he needed to fire to bring me back. I told him I'd pass and ended up finding another job in a day. A little over a year later, this restaurant shut down and was demolished to turn the space into a parking garage.
    via u/Pickle-Standard
  • 11
    BCProgrammi... Over a decade ago, worked at Tim Hortons. had been there 6 years on overnight shift. (11PM-7AM) We were always understaffed. Usually just two people; one in the back, one at front of house. Of course it is slower than during the day, that goes without saying, but there are a few "rushes" when certain
    via u/BCProgramming
  • 12
    places close. Anyways, they hire back a guy who had previously been fired like 4 times for just not showing up. He was on the schedule on a Sunday morning with me. There was a 20 dozen donut order and that was the day the freezer truck arrived and I put that away. I remember saying "If he doesn't show up, I'm probably just going home".
    via u/BCProgramming
  • 13
    Needless to say, he doesn't show up. Managers aren't picking up either. I think I stayed for a few hours futilely trying to get everything done- I closed down the front and the Drive/thru for what I intended to be a few hours to try to at least have the order ready for 6AM. But then a switch kind of flipped; I realized I wasn't going to be able to take any break
    via u/BCProgramming
  • 14
    the entire time. Somehow I'd have to figure out how to put away a freezer delivery, which arrives literally at 5AM which is busy as , and I'd be doing that as well. The people that showed up in the morning would just do their usual about stuff I wasn't able to do, I'd probably get written up again for some stupid reason or because I didn't do X or Y or whatever, and
    via u/BCProgramming
  • 15
    all this for like, $10.50/hr. I paused and asked myself- "how long do I want to work here?". And right then a bunch of dr nk kids were knocking on the door, apparently confused why the lights were off and the door was locked, because that's an enigma. I decided "6 years is enough" and went home.
    via u/BCProgramming
  • 16
    F tastrophe Verbal ab e from my boss. I'm an extremely patient person but when every single word out of someone's mouth is berating and condescending, there's no price worth putting up with that and no reason to subject yourself to it for longer than necessary.
    via u/F**tastrophe
  • 17
    Active-Straw... Did everything they wanted. Jumped on a plane to another site on 1 day's notice. Ended up working 16 days straight before coming back. Took a WFH customer service job role I didn't really want just to help out on a temporary basis. We were told that half the team could have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off and the other half could have
    via u/Active-Strawberry-37
  • 18
    Christmas Day and Boxing. Day. Except me, who could only have Christmas Day. I signed out of the VPN, call blocked my managers, put my laptop in a box and posted it to head office with my resignation letter inside it.
    via u/Active-Strawberry-37
  • 19
    tintedrosie I put in that I needed off a particular weekend 5 months in advance. That week comes and I'm on the bar schedule. I call and say "yeah I can't work this I have someone in town from across the country staying with me. I put in to have off 5 months ago." Manager replied "you put in a request off, and it's just that. A request." So even though I
    via u/tintedrosie
  • 20
    was seething angry, I said. okay and then hung up. Day of the shift comes and I waited until 15 minutes before it started to leave a message thanking them for the opportunity to cover everyone else's shifts for 3 years, but I wouldn't be in ever again. I still joke to this day with my friend that I quit my job for her.
    via u/tintedrosie
  • 21
    [deleted] When I complained about being on call 24/7 and not being paid for it. And they had me in with HR discussing my performance. I walked out 2 weeks before Christmas
    via u/[deleted]
  • 22
    jekelish3 I've only quit one job ever, in high school when I worked at a grocery store. But I quit after I somehow was the only person scheduled to work on a Saturday night. Like, literally the only person. I was 16 or 17? Granted I lived in a small town, but being the only person working in a whole grocery store (to
    via u/jekelish3
  • 23
    emphasize: only person. Not a single other person was working. Not a janitor, not a manager, not a bag boy, no one else) was just absurd. Never went back.
    via u/jekelish3
  • 24
    tbkrida They never gave me the raise they promised me 3 months before, then a manager tried to criticize me for not doing something that wasn't even my responsibility. I cursed him. out, then cursed the main plant manager out in our meeting and left.
    via u/tbkrida
  • 25
    About 3 days later the Plant Manager called and asked why I haven't been to work. He thought I was just venting and left for the day. I told him I said I No sure how that wasn't quit. clear...
    via u/tbkrida
  • 26
    My boss continuously berated my performance. I got a similar job elsewhere. My new job was going to start in a couple of weeks and I was waiting to talk with my boss and give him 2 weeks notice. He started criticizing me again so I gave him my keys for the building and walked out.
    via u/Illustrious-Gas-9766
  • 27
    smango19 When I got called an hour before my shift and was told to come in immediately because the manager didn't schedule enough people. When I reminded her I needed to bus I was told to "just take a cab." Stupidly I did. And when I got in she told me I should've made sure she did the schedule right. Then I was told I'd be opening the next morning...
    via u/smango19
  • 28
    Even though I was closing the kitchen that night. I closed. I did not open. My apron and key were on the counter waiting for her when she went to work in the morning.
    via u/smango19
  • 29
    Odiemus Fast food as a teen. Worked the 'manager' spot on weekends overnight. Made just over minimum wage. The manager who would relieve me on sat/sun morning was often late. Called in because my car wouldn't start and I needed a friend to drop me off so wanted to warn them I might be a few minutes late for the
    via u/Odiemus
  • 30
    first time ever. It was her and she started yelling at me over the phone. I scrambled and made it in 5 minutes late. If she had just made a snide remark or let it go we probably would have been fine, but she wanted to yell and scream and berate me and I just snapped. Yelled back that I was basically overworked and under appreciated being a manager without the title/pay and brought up her
    via u/Odiemus
  • 31
    being late (hours sometimes) to relieve me basically every weekend. And I couldn't leave because I was the 'manager' just like she couldn't til I showed up... and told her I quit. I was already thinking about it... I basically worked to have my car and my car was struggling and school was starting to suffer.
    via u/Odiemus
  • 32
    The other guy that was supposed to be on nights with me saw it and quit in the spot with me.
    via u/Odiemus
  • 33
    holyf ladyf... When they took my elderly coworker in the back and unceremoniously fired him. He had a disability when he was hired but after a few years a new manager started tasking him with things he wasn't able to do, then complained to the new owners...
    via u/holyf***ladyflash
  • 34
    I walked out with him. I have a lot of pride for that decision. He said it made him feel like he mattered. They went out of business 6 months later so who even cares. It's been 7 years and it still makes me angry to think about that day and those smug heartless managers.
    via u/holyf***ladyflash
  • 35
    AkuraPiety My first job as a dishwasher and the owners were cheap . I got yelled at for emptying a metal container with a serving or two of marinara sauce at the bottom at the end of the night because I was supposed to pour it back into the container for use later. He then freaked out
    via u/AkuraPiety
  • 36
    and started throwing other food away in the fridge because "well we might as well not save anything". So I quit on the spot.
    via u/AkuraPiety
  • 37
    warfteiner Requested and approved for PTO so that I could get dental surgery. Morning of surgery, get a message from boss that I had to go to work ASAP. Explained that surgery was in ~30 minutes, he told me that I had to be there that afternoon. Came in after surgery. Couldn't speak, was in a world of pain.
    via u/warfteiner
  • 38
    The reason? His boss was present and she asked if I was around. When she saw me and my condition, she apologized and had a very loud conversation with him. She had been one of my regulars in my previous company (yay, food service). A few days later he laid into me about my lack of professionalism and other topics about general management. I ended the
    via u/warfteiner
  • 39
    call, put my keys in the safe, emailed his boss, and left. He was fired about a week later, but it wasn't enough to get me to return.
    via u/warfteiner
  • 40
    slvrfire New boss completely changed hours/expectations without any notice or checking in with any employees, I got the worst. of it and when I stood up for myself I was greeted with anything between crocodile tears to just full on insults,
    via u/slvrfire
  • 41
    after 3 months of being miserable I walked after one final scathing insult. I regret the lack of professionalism on my end, but I don't regret leaving the job.
    via u/slvrfire
  • 42
    tryoracle I asked for a filing cabinet for 6 months got told there was no money in the budget. I found one for free and there was mo time to pick it up. Then they bought another supervisor a brand new truck
    via u/tryoracle
  • 43
    MUSE555 This b kept on bragging about how she never washed her hands, yet the upper management continued to promote her. I worked in the factory that made every donut for every Dunkin' in Michigan, and yes, I mean literally bragged about not washing her hands.
    via u/MUSE555
  • 44
    Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, purchase any product from Dunkin' in Michigan. If you ever order anything from Dunkin' in Michigan that has frosting or sprinkles on it, in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, you are touching food product from a disgusting who other people out for calling her out for not washing her hands.
    via u/MUSE555
  • 45
    I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it's true.
    via u/MUSE555
  • 46
    The_Bill_Bras... They DQ'd me from a job that I literally created from the bottom-up, a position made explicitly for me, over a bulls complaint and were gonna send me to an overnight shift packing boxes for 15% less money. Interviewed closer to home and for 30% more the next week, quit the literal day after I burned up all my vacation hours without
    via u/The_Bill_Brasky
  • 47
    notice. Biggest smile of my life. Then I learn their big fancy. auditor comes in 3 months after I'm gone and finds out I actually DID A LOT to save the company money and keep them in compliance with OSHA. Oddly enough, they're about 80-some days behind on a lot of stuff... They're hiring for my vacancy right now.
    via u/The_Bill_Brasky
  • 48
    tacticalgarmet VP of company took me aside and showed me how my skills in maintenance had saved the company about $15,000 in my first year there, along with that, I volunteered for our departments saftey officer as soon as I got there, and was always taking the jobs nobody wanted. I asked for a raise and got the run around and told I wasnt
    via u/tacticalgarmet
  • 49
    worth it. I put in a weeks notice and moved. Now Im making over 2x as much and WAY happier and appriciated for my work with less hours. I wish daily that place goes bankrupt. A blind kid could manage coloring a photo realistic painting with his big toe before that place had proper management.
    via u/tacticalgarmet
  • 50
    thisisnotrealli... Got lit up publicly by the ah le store manager for clocking in 2 minutes late. Waited for a busy shift when it was just him and I on the schedule then called 10 minutes after my shift started to tell him I quit. He threatened to kill me
    via u/thisisnotreallifetho

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