18-year-old call center worker reprimanded for deviating from the script, maliciously complies to prove her point: 'You told me to stick to the script!'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 13, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

When you're just starting out in the professional world, following directions to the letter is usually the best course of action. However, sometimes, being a decent communicator with a working brain might steer you in another direction, much to your manager's chagrin. Sure, you might not be following every word of your so-called "script," but what if the script has a major flaw in it and you need to think on your feet and course-correct? This should be the kind of smart professionalism that should be rewarded in the workplace. Unfortunately, far too many managers are either too insecure or too ignorant themselves to notice that this is the behavior of a good employee rather than an insubordinate one.

In this instance, we have an 18-year-old who found herself working in a call center with a new manager who did things by the book. That meant never deviating from the script and never showing the kind of empathy and presence that could actually make a customer feel like they are being taken care of by a real human. Of course, the manager wasn't encouraging being robotic on phone calls with customers, but demanding that employees never deviate from the limited set of sentences they can utter will inevitably have that effect. Keep scrolling below to see what happened when this employee decided to maliciously comply in order to prove a point! 

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    Cheezburger Image 10528350208
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • How could this manager not foresee that this mandate was going to backfire quickly? After all, there are only so many scenarios within the script for call center workers, and some customer problems are so unique that they cannot be predicted. Furthermore, customers want to feel like they are being heard by the folks on the other line. By limiting the kinds of responses that call center workers can give, customers are bound to get frustrated. 

  • 02
    I (18F) worked at a call center for about 3 months, mostly helping people reset passwords and answer basic questions.
    via al1cewillson
  • 03
    During training, the told us to "sound natural and conversational." Cool. I did that and got great feedback from callers.
    via al1cewillson
  • 04
    Then we got a new supervisor who flipped if we didn't read the script exactly as written. She said, "If you deviate even slightly, you'll be written up." Okay.
    via al1cewillson
  • 05
    Next call, a guy says, "Hey, my account's locked, can you help me real quick?" I respond (robot mode): "Hello, thank you for calling. My name is [NAME], and I hope you're having a wonderful day. How may I assist you with you technical concern today?"
    via al1cewillson
  • 06
    He paused and said, "...Are you serious?" I kept going exactly word for word. Even even the weird fake empathy lines like, "I completely understand how frustrating this unique situation must feel."
    via al1cewillson
  • 07
    Mid call, my supervisor walked by, and actually stopped to listen. She tilted her head, looked confused, and asked after the call, "Why were you talking like that?"
    via al1cewillson
  • 08
    I just said, "You told me to stick to the script." She didn't have a comeback. And funnily enough, the next day, she told our team: “Okay, just make sure you cover the key points. You can be natural again."
    via al1cewillson
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    Cheezburger Image 10528350464
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10
    Illuminatus-Prime · 16h ago Basic MalComp, well played.
    via al1cewillson
  • 11
    Hollow Voices • 16h ago I hated working for a call center SO MUCH
    via al1cewillson
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    Dripping Snarkasm 16h ago "Thank you for this information, {$_supervisor}. Let me check that for you."
    via al1cewillson
  • 13
    Apprehensive-Ba... 15h ago I got written up for not saying 3 pleases and 3 thank you. The call lasted less than a minute.
    via al1cewillson
  • 14
    Meanwhile a handful of coworkers were dropping difficult calls so they could keep their talk time lower to qualify for money bonuses with zero repercussions.
    via al1cewillson
  • 15
    ReginaSpektors 14h ago I hate those stupid empathy lines in the script. I once had to call roadside assistance because my company truck
    via al1cewillson
  • 16
    was stuck in the mud and the guy was like "I understand that it's very frustrating to be stuck in mud" like yeah cool buddy I need a winch truck not a therapist
    via al1cewillson
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    Go_Gators_4Ever · 16h ago I would have used my best impression of Christopher Walken for the voice and inflections.
    via al1cewillson
  • 18
    Druidicflow • 11h ago hope you actually said "[NAME]" and somehow pronounced the brackets and the all caps.
    via al1cewillson
  • 19
    mwalimu59 • 15h ago . The call center I worked at several years ago encouraged us to sound friendly and conversational most of the time. In a few
    via al1cewillson
  • 20
    key places they had "verbatim word tracks" which for legal reasons or similar we had to read word for word as shown. It was a pretty good system.
    via al1cewillson
  • 21
    JaschaE · 14h ago All the ones I worked with where okay with keeping it casual after the greeting.
    via al1cewillson
  • 22
    Only one had a script to follow word for word when applicable. It hung in every single cubicle and had the headline "In case of a bomb thread." I consider that one reasonable.
    via al1cewillson

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workplace-stories toxic-manager call center work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work toxic-management Horrible Bosses bad bosses workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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