Companies just don't get it. They simply don't understand that in order to work peacefully with the people they employ, they need to stop forcing employees to heed rules that are so out of place, it isn't even funny. When companies hire contractors, they take into account that this is no regular, run-of-the-mill employee who works on the company's payroll, receiving wages and benefits in exchange for following work guidelines. No, no, contractors are much different. See, a contractor is a separ…

This woman made one key misstep while talking to a customer service representative . Calling customer service is not a task anyone looks forward to. Usually, you're contacting them because of a broken electronic or a warranty issue. Or perhaps, like this woman, you're calling about your broadband service. While customer service via phone has improved vastly over recent years, it's still a slog to wait around on hold for hours, especially if they're playing hold music. Worse still is when they p…

It's your job as a parent to try to raise your kid right. You try to instill good values and push them to be kind, hardworking, and to follow the rules. But of course, kids definitely do not always follow rules, especially when they're young. This person remembered a funny tale from when he was in elementary school . He did something to annoy his father, though neither of them can recall what the incident was anymore. So u/Zylly's father decided the best course of action was to take away all hi…

As a sales person, this employee still has to field a lot of customer service calls . Due to a mix up with the phone systems' phrasing, lots of confused customers get sent to u/d**nknife's phone line. They shared one story of a customer who just could not understand what they were paying for on their phone plan . I guess the customer isn't always right after all. If you've ever talked to someone who's worked a customer service phone operator job, they'll tell you that it takes some strategy. Th…

This person learned an interesting tip from about getting what you want as a guest. As u/badgermann writes, their wife worked at the “central switchboard for a group of resort hotels in a tourist area." While you're vacationing, you want everything to run smoothly. Instead of dealing with the humdrum of daily life, all you really want is to be sprawled out on the beach with a good book and no responsibilities whatsoever. However, if you have traveled on vacation even a single time, you know tha…

Turn all phones off? Okay, if you say so… Phones in the workplace are quite the divisive topic. You could argue that these days, people really need their cell phones to run their lives effectively. For example, if you're at work, but you get a call or text that your child is sick and you need to get them from school, having your phone on you is the best way to communicate. On the other side of the coin, however, phones are so addictive that it's easy to get lost for hours browsing social media…

This person made their cold-calling job extra easy with a life hack of sorts. As a cold caller, you're signing up for a job that's both repetitive and competitive. You have to make the same exact sales pitch dozens of times per day, but you can't let the monotony get to you. Instead, you have to convince potential clients to purchase your company's service. For those with the charisma of a salesperson, this job can be great. However, this OP, u/Unashamed_Outrage, writes that they strongly disli…

After moving to a new country, this dude kept getting phone calls from random callers . These days, most of us get a few random calls a day, but our phone often lets us know they're robo calls. That way, we don't have to answer them and talk to a robot or someone trying to steal our life savings. However, this person had a more complex situation on their hands. They got a new phone number , but the previous person who'd had that number didn't bother to tell his clients about the number change.…

It would take a lot for you to block your boss's phone number , but this woman had to do exactly that. Her boss just wouldn't leave her be as he tried his hardest to interrupt her vacation time . U/Pinkyrye shared her story to r/AmItheA**hole, and she provided several updates on her situation as well. Despite working at her security guard job for six years, her boss still gave her a hard time about taking five days of vacation time. Some places really are stingy with time off, paid or unpaid. I…

Genuine question for those who play music out loud in public places : why do you do it? Whenever I see people walking around blasting music on their phones , I usually assume they don't have headphones. From my personal experience, I know how easy it is to break, lose, or forget your headphones, leaving you without audio entertainment for a day. How annoying! Maybe that person blasting music on the train works several jobs and doesn't have a lot of personal time to enjoy music in their own home…

This company pulled a classic bait and switch on this poor employee. Some companies will do anything to appear like they're treating their employees well, while in reality, the employees are pretty miserable. One example is the “unlimited vacation” benefit that some workplaces offer. They lure you in during the hiring process, telling you you can take as much time off as you please. But in reality, you still have to get the time off approved by your boss , and face the guilt-tripping they'll tr…

When this woman's phone memory filled up, she knew exactly where to go — back to the store she bought her phone from. Customers are usually convinced that they're correct, and that they know exactly what they're doing. So then the employee, who does this all day every day, is at the mercy of the customer, who is utterly unflappable. It's not fair to these retail workers , and of course, this happens in every industry. This employee shared their story to r/talesfromretail about a woman who showe…

It's truly remarkable what one typo can do to a friendship or a marriage or a professional relationship.

We've all messaged the wrong person before, but we haven't all messaged Carol!

iPhones are fine and all, but sometimes I think the best age of technology was when people had iPods and Razor phones. Phones/texting and music used to be in separate places (but today's kids don't know about that…just kidding, we all know you can Google anything in .5 seconds). Or, there was the intriguing mid-2000s era when we had green iPod nanos and cell phones with a slide-out keyboard, which gave us a lot of quirky looking flip phones. Technology seemed so exciting back then! Today, we ha…

He had it coming!