FAIL Blog
Advertisement

it

‘Fix your mess’: IT worker skillfully complies with micromanager, puts in 16 hours on a two-hour task, resulting in client's refusal to pay the hourly rate

‘Fix your mess’: IT worker skillfully complies with micromanager, puts in 16 hours on a two-hour task, resulting in client's refusal to pay the hourly rate

Large companies function like machines. The managers and employees are in charge of keeping the machine operating as efficiently and profitably as possible. But occasionally, people become so engrossed in their work that they lose sight of what needs to get done right now and what can wait. In the story below, a devoted IT worker has had enough of his supervisors' ridiculous expectations. Since the Original Poster (OP) has been employed by the same company for quite some time, he is familiar wi…
View List
‘Please come back': Programmer laid off in favor of new college grad hire, management desperately attempts to rehire him after finding out all their files are deleted

‘Please come back': Programmer laid off in favor of new college grad hire, management desperately attempts to rehire him after finding out all their files are deleted

People get laid off all the time. Especially when you're over 40. See, companies like to hire new kids, fresh out of college, ones who will conform easily to policies, and accept jobs for way less pay. Then, the companies realize their mistake, and they pay dearly for it. Because these new hires have no idea what they're doing. They can't code, build prototypes, and make the customer happy. This senior programmer was laid off after new management swooped in and hired a new kid. The programmer k…
View List
Advertisement
workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs tech support talesfromtechsupport job malicious compliance work it IT guy workplace Tech workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace - 25140485

'It’s satisfying watching the management scramble': IT department brought to a standstill when upper management decides they need to approve everything

There's this thing that happens every now and again in organizations where someone, usually high up on the food chain, decides that everything—every decision, order, expense, or report—needs to pass across their desk. They do so severely underestimating the gravitas of what they've just requested, with little comprehension of just how many things they're going to be handling, dependent on their pen stroke to proceed. Of course, maybe not right away, but at some point, things are going to begin…
View List
workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs no overtime tech support talesfromtechsupport job malicious compliance work technology it IT guy workplace Tech overtime workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace - 25070853

'No exceptions!': IT Manager says "no overtime," has to drive to site in the middle of the night to fix emergency himself when team complies

If you're in a line of work that frequently deals with emergency break-fix scenarios where you're effectively permanently on call and might be expected (or required) to spring into action at a moment's notice at any time, having an expectation set that you'll never work overtime doesn't really work. Yet, that doesn't stop petty managers from setting petty rules for their frontline staff who are handling these types of situations. But, to be fair, it's not as if they really understand the indust…
View List
'You should have paid us on time': Boss sends IT employees to recover all their tech equipment from a company that failed to pay their dues

'You should have paid us on time': Boss sends IT employees to recover all their tech equipment from a company that failed to pay their dues

Handling payment between two companies is never easy business. Each company has its own regulations and policies regarding their money, it is often hard to manage even the most simple payment. Much like the companies in this Reddit story. The person who wrote this story (OP) is an employee in a tech company that supplies and installs tech equipment to other small companies. Their policy states that until the payment for the equipment is fully paid, the ownership of it remains in the hands of th…
View List
Advertisement
back to school crazy things parents say Parenting Fail Father it elementary school IT guy tech support mom principal teachers school parents parenting elementary Tech mother teacher teacher-stories - 24970757

School Admin insists on name-based email address policy, teacher gets unfortunately inappropriate email upsetting parents: 'I went ahead and followed orders'

When I was in middle school our school had an unfortunate naming convention for our school usernames that consisted of the first five letters of your last name followed by the first four letters of your first name. Naturally, my username was thus “DicksBra” and you can imagine how much fun we, being a group of 11-year-old boys had with that. Any time my username was required it was gleefully announced or entered to the tune of stifled laughter
View List
‘She’s had this problem for over a year': Incompetent employee's manager insists IT messed up after finding out she wasn't doing her job following her promotion

‘She’s had this problem for over a year': Incompetent employee's manager insists IT messed up after finding out she wasn't doing her job following her promotion

Why does IT always get blamed? Employees always expect them to read minds, to predict the future… But they're humans with a lot on their plate, and they don't bow to snobby managers from various departments who are trying to cover for their incompetent employees. One such employee approached OP (who was working in IT) after she failed to receive emails. OP immediately began troubleshooting and found the problem relatively quickly. The issue was a rule that she had set up, and OP pointed her to…
View List
'She wanted me gone but got fired instead': IT employee refuses to fix demanding coworker's computer so she turns to upper management to get him fired

'She wanted me gone but got fired instead': IT employee refuses to fix demanding coworker's computer so she turns to upper management to get him fired

IT people really have it hard out there. It is a genuine surprise how they manage to keep a civil conversation with people while having to fix their constant silly tech problems they could have fixed themselves in less them two minutes. Honestly, the term ‘Technophobic' has lost all meaning when you hear what people need help with. No ma'am, you are not technophobic, you are simply too lazy to learn. And why would you learn if all you have to do to fix your tiny problem is to call the IT person…
View List
Advertisement
'This was how they thanked me': IT employee saves company from fines amounting to millions, they reward him with a $20 voucher

'This was how they thanked me': IT employee saves company from fines amounting to millions, they reward him with a $20 voucher

One IT employee resolved a huge financial issue for their company that left unchecked, would have resulted in fines amounting to millions. You would think that the employee would get rewarded, but remember, this is corporate we're talking about… Nobody ever gets rewarded for being a good worker. If anything, it's quite the opposite. Continue being a good little bolt in the machine, and you'll get some pizza. Gee, thanks, boss. People often blabber on about how 'Nobody wants to work these days',…
View List
‘You can’t delete my emails': IT employee informs coworkers he cannot retrieve old emails due to company's mail retention policy, they turn to upper management

‘You can’t delete my emails': IT employee informs coworkers he cannot retrieve old emails due to company's mail retention policy, they turn to upper management

Don't store important files in your email. There, I said it. The chances of something happening and them all getting deleted are slim, but never zero. This advice applies even more so if you are working in a company with a mail retention policy. These employees were furious when they learned from the IT guy that every email that was older than 2 years was gone, permanently deleted, and irretrievable. They had some important financial documents that they wanted to check out again, but alas, ther…
View List
'All I did was settle the score': IT employee gets manager fired after finding a bug in code that allows entire company to access clientele

'All I did was settle the score': IT employee gets manager fired after finding a bug in code that allows entire company to access clientele

Finding work is harder than it looks. We don't even begin to consider all the little details that go into our future careers when we apply for a job. like, off the top of my mind, a mandatory background check? In the story below, OP runs the risk of losing his job because his background check does not match the information he provided on his resume or in his interviews. However because he was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement with his prior employers, OP failed to disclose some of the…
View List
Advertisement
‘Update my website!’: Client calls IT support after engineer's report doesn't match the facilities description of their website

‘Update my website!’: Client calls IT support after engineer's report doesn't match the facilities description of their website

People working in technical support have seen a lot of funny cases over the years, and this case is definitely one to remember for the IT manager involved. OP was working for a large pub company based in the UK, in which their chief role was second-in-line support for retail applications. One client opened a ticket after an engineer had come and checked the facilities of their establishment, only to send out a faulty report, leading to the website displaying a facility that the establishment cl…
View List
tales from tech support tech support talesfromtechsupport technical difficulties workplace humor work it IT guy workplace Tech - 23609349

'This is unacceptable': Worker demands a shiny silver new laptop from disgruntled IT guy, he tells her boss

Everyone who has ever been stuck working on a company laptop that is frightfully unsuited to its task knows the pain of receiving a decrepit hand-me-down of a machine from the IT department, and anyone who has ever been issued a company computer will be able to tell you they've had this exact experience. So, there you are, desperately attempting to remain efficient whilst enduring higher load-processing times than when you tried to play flash games on your parents' dial-up internet and navigati…
View List
reddit, failblog, r-AITA, holiday-shift-coverage, holiday-work-fail, karen-coworker, working-on-thanksgiving, holiday-work, holiday-employment

‘She thought she was being super clever’: Employee tattles to the boss as a power move to force coworker to cover her Thanksgiving shift, ends up duping herself instead

It's that time of the year again, everybody! When you work at a place that needs to keep running during the holidays. This can include the service industry, retail, and even tech! Bet you have never even thought about how sight security and coding needs to continue smoothly even during the holidays. That means employees are trading shifts left and right to try and get a day off to spend with their loved ones. Most places you can just discuss it like adults amongst your coworkers and figure out…
View List
Advertisement
pro revenge boss toxic-workplace manager petty-revenge-reddit revenge revenge-stories it programmers petty revenge IT guy managers Horrible Bosses Tech developers revenge-stories-reddit - 23052293

'You make $200 and hour?': Arrogant boss brags about making more than IT Guy, he quits and charges that as contract rate

While this story may not be as spicy as some of the other stories we've seen come out of this particular subreddit, without a doubt, it's a good bit of revenge against an arrogant employer that doesn't reek of an “and everybody clapped” sort of ending.
View List
antiwork talesfromtheworkplace tech support talesfromtechsupport technology it IT guy Horrible Bosses Tech workplace stories employment - 22993669

'It ended up costing them more money': IT Guy told to be at his desk from 8-5 despite after hours callouts, starts billing all his overtime instead, quits

At this point in the story of the history of the office worker, it should be common knowledge that being a productive worker doesn't mean being tied to a desk for 8 hours a day between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM. In the yesteryear of the evaluation of working performance, previous generations would have sat stoically at their desks and, whether or not they were actually doing anything of merit to contribute to the company, their ability to have their behind in that seat for eight hours a day wo…
View List
1 2 3 4 5
Advertisement

Hot Today

Advertisement