'My boyfriend had to block the owner': Woman makes boyfriend quit his job 2 days into working after owner's erratic behavior

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 9, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Starting a new job always comes with some risks. You never truly know what you're in for until you're knee deep in it already. There is only so much you can glean from a job description and a couple of rounds of interviews. Everyone is usually on their best behavior through these, so there's not a surefire way to tell what it's going to be like on the job. This is why some of us enter jobs with some level of trepidation, especially if we've been burned before. Maybe you hold back our full commitment until you realize whether or not this is going to be harmful or helpful. 

It's important not to be bamboozled by the sunk cost fallacy, especially at a new job. You might think just because you spent all this time and effort getting hired that it's not worth it to run when you smell something fishy. But it's never too late to run for the hills when you feel like you need to. It's never too late to book it and save yourself the trouble down the line. 

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  • A man takes his belongings out of an office.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • That's what happened to this man who signed up for a new job but didn't realize quite what he was in for. After a few days of intense back and forth, his partner helped him realize that he could do a lot better. Read on for all the details of the story and see what you think. 

  • I made my boyfriend quit his job 2 days in.

    Yeah pretty much exactly what the title says. Not that it's important, but we are young parents putting ourselves through college. Please keep this is mind while reading this. He got a job for a small local junk removal company. From the start it was absolutely ridiculous. The owner called him at 1pm for an interview, scheduled it for 5:30pm
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • the same day. He gets to the interview, and the owner showed up in flip flops. At the end of the interview he told my boyfriend he got the job and was to start the following day... at 6:30 in the morning. Here's why he agreed to quit.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • Day 1: -everyone warned him the owner doesn't know how to run a business, and to go directly through the manager and never the owner. -everyone is scheduled part time, but is forced to work 6 days a week, 10-12 hour shifts with zero benefits. -was told there's no set schedule, you get called in at 8pm the night before and you're told when to show up (most times it's 6am). If you can't make it, the owner harasses you until you eventually give in
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • Day 2: -they told my boyfriend to go in at 9am to meet the owner to start the day. Nobody showed up until after 10:30am. -During a job, there was accidental property damage. The woman was very nice, so a coworker called the owner to ask to give the homeowner (an elderly lady) a discount, to which the owner fought and finally settled on a $30 discount (Broken window, doorknob, hole in the wall was the damage, they had to move 4 couches down a very narrow stairway)
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • I told him while he was working today that the company was a mess and told him to quit. The job S ks yes, but he market was being treated like sh. At the end of the day, my boyfriend agreed to quit because he couldn't deal with the disarray. He felt awful for the old lady and the boss was so disorganized. He also hated how because of the lack of
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • schedule, he had no idea if he would be able to spend time with our kid. Both days he came home and the kiddo was already asleep. My boyfriend stood up for himself and told the owner he couldn't do the job, and the owner tried to guilt him by saying "you really screwed me over." The owner would not stop blowing his phone up.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • Eventually, my bf told the owner that he had an opportunity for a paid internship at another place anyway and the guy ASKED FOR THE NUMBER OF THE PLACE TO "TALK TO THEM." Talk to them about what? I don't know. My boyfriend had to block the owner because he would not stop harassing him.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • I don't know what the heck is going on with businesses and companies lately. The job market is awful, completely awful, but he and i both agreed that him unemployed was better than working for the absolute mess of a company. I think it's even more crazy knowing that within 2 days all of these red flags were made apparent.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • A man enters a office room where his coworker is working.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • Commenters agreed that this sounded like a dodged bullet.

    judgeejudger 14h ago . He should give your state Labor Board a call and drop the hammer on this dude. Wage theft is a big deal.
    via u/judgeejudger
  • ProPainAD • 12h ago Yeah, definitely worth reporting. That part time/60+ hour thing alone is sketchy as hl.
    via u/ProPainAD
  • netman85 • 14h ago . Yeah..... I'd quit too! Then run far away from whomever the owner is and hope he no longer has my address. Because I'll bet money he's the kind to show up at your house unannounced to try to get his way.
    via u/netman85
  • ThatOneNerd7 • 13h ago The fact that he wouldn't stop calling and then asked for the internship contact info is already way over the line. Definitely sounds like the type who doesn't understand boundaries.
    via u/ThatOneNerd7
  • cottagecore_bee OP · 11h ago exactly!!! like what do you think is gonna happen if you call them?? that part left me the most confused.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • I_Fuckin_A_Toad_... • 13h ago Part time but work 6 days a week and 10-12 hours shifts? That doesn't add up...
    via u/I_Fuckin_A_Toad_So
  • cottagecore_bee OP. 13h ago yup, he would advertise it as part time but make them work full time hours and not give them benefits.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • kaitoghost 12h ago • Im no expert here, but this seems illegal as f____.
    via u/kaitoghost
  • jessedjd 12h ago • In most states, yes. However, (and I'm not wanting to get political, but there's no other option) the owner has probably lost some of his employees due to deportations, and hasn't really been following labor laws for years Source, my neighbor who did the same thing for his private hauling business
    via u/jessedjd
  • Early-Light-864 • 12h ago Full time and part time aren't legally meaningful This company sounds small enough that they don't have to offer benefits to anyone. If they get paid for the hours, it's legal
    via u/Early-Light-864
  • Duke726 11h ago Good call on quitting. That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. I just want to add though that there are some very real, good jobs, that are (my job calls it) "permanently on call". I get told what Im doing the next day at about 4pm. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later. If im really unlucky I have to wait until the morning of.
    via u/Duke726
  • Now all that being said, there's really no reason why junk removal couldn't schedule things in advance.
    via u/Duke726
  • cottagecore_bee OP · 11h ago . oh yes i'm aware of those types of jobs!!! but the job wasn't advertised as such! it was very predatory almost, the way the owner borderline harassed and tried to trap my boyfriend into the job wasn't insane.
    via u/cottagecore_bee
  • mandrack3 · 6h ago • Why didn't he go the sincerity route like "look dude your company is sh, y'all don't have any boundaries over here, and you treat people like sh, and the part time full hours thing might also be illegal as f . It's a legal nightmare waiting to happen". Unambiguous, to the point, bridge nuked.
    via u/mandrack3

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