'They owe me a lot of money': Former bar manager still had remote access to venue’s lighting, used it to prank owners who never paid him

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Oct 10, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Why is it that people who have never worked a service shift decide they can run the place, then blame the staff when things go wrong? One bartender invested years and sweat into opening bars and then helped a friend launch a local music venue. He wrote the POS, hired the staff, ran inventory and basically did the whole behind-the-scenes work to get it up and running. 

The owners didn't know how any of it worked. They also didn't pay him on time and told nasty stories about him when he pushed back.

So when he found an old app on his phone that still controlled the venue's lighting, the temptation was obvious. He didn't torch the place or sabotage the kitchen. He played with lights. He flipped them off and on, watched the staff scramble, waited for them to reset breakers, then stopped before things got truly suspicious. He also set an automatic timer so the main bar goes dark at midnight on Fridays and weekends. 

It's petty. It's harmless. It's also deeply satisfying.

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  • This reads like a classic service-industry catharsis. People who’ve been underpaid and gaslit learn to find small, nonviolent ways to reclaim dignity. Personally, I get it. There’s something almost restorative about using the very systems you built to remind bad bosses they left doors open.

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  • So there's some back story to this post. About two years ago my friend, let call him Jared, came to me asking about bartending.
    via sinfullykay
  • At that point I had been bartending for about 7 years and had opened a few big name successful bars.
    via sinfullykay
  • He mentioned wanting to buy a local music venue and rebrand it. Fast forward to the business starting.
    via sinfullykay
  • I created the entire POS system, hired all of the bartenders. Did all of the inventory ordering etc.
    via sinfullykay
  • None of the owners have ever been in the service industry and did not know a single thing about sh.
    via sinfullykay
  • I would never get paid on time, got treated TERRIBLY by them, and they never lived up to their end of the deal.
    via sinfullykay
  • MAELO DER BERG Estrella Galicia
    via Deniz Demirci For Unsplash+
  • They owe me a lot of money and spread some pretty horrible lies about me. NOW for the petty revenge.
    via sinfullykay
  • I recently discovered this old app on my phone that controls the entire set up (lighting, etc) to this place.
    via sinfullykay
  • I'm pretty positive I'm still the only one who can remotely control this unless you are at the bar.
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  • Of course, they never removed my access and more than likely have no idea how to unless they were to redo all of the set up on the back end.
    via sinfullykay
  • I decided to have some fun with this the other night. I changed all of the lights several times, while the bar was open.
    via sinfullykay
  • Certainly not during a busy time but just to test it out. I got the message on the app that said "successful" | knew I was golden.
    via sinfullykay
  • I turned them all off several times. Waited a bit and continued to do it. I know they had absolutely no idea what was going on.
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  • They turned off all of the power to the place twice and reset the breakers. I could tell this because all of the devices were offline.
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  • I let this go on for about 20-30 minutes and decided to not over do it too much so they wouldn't get suspicious just yet.
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  • I did have an absolute blast watching all of the lights turn back on, through the app, just for me to mess with them over and over again.
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  • The best part, they are now set on automatic timers to turn off at 12 every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
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  • Don't worry, the dance room upstairs will still have light but the entire bar area will go dark.
    via sinfullykay
  • Spirited_Fun4143 As a bartender this story is gold. Keep messing with them. F fake friend. a
    via Spirited_Fun4143
  • RJack151 Mess with them and send them an invoice for what they owe you. And consider contacting the Labor Board and report them for wage theft.
    via RJack151
  • Commercial_Sir_3205 Contact your ex friends and say that you heard they are having issues with the lighting and for an upfront fee $$$ you can fix it for them.
    via Commercial_Sir_3205
  • Coder Joe1 Will they become enlightened?
    via CoderJoe1

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Tags

customer service bar job owner work bar manager petty revenge entitled people karma Horrible Bosses service industry
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