Unfiltered Story #100008

My sister works in HR at a plant. The company does random drug testing, and if you’re selected, you get emailed so you know to show up that day. My sister is supposed to have the day off, as compensation for the extra hours she put in that week, but drives in since the testing is mandatory. Normally, the testing goes pretty quickly, and she should still get most of her day off. When she gets there, though, she finds a bunch of disgruntled third shifters (who had to stay late for the testing) and no dug tester. After it becomes clear that the tester isn’t arriving (they have a set window for doing the test, per the contract, and are obligated to send someone within that time frame), my sister calls the testing company.
Sister: Hi, this is [sister] from [company]. One of your testers was supposed to be here two hours ago. Are they on their way, or can you send the emergency backup?
Agent: I’m sorry, it looks like we don’t have anyone listed as dispatched, and no one on the regular roster available to assign. Let me send you to the backup tester on call.
([Sister] is transferred, and explains the situation again to the emergency tester on call.)
On call: Yes, it looks like all of our testers are currently out on assignment. We have no one available to send.
Sister: I was told you were the on call tester?
On call: That’s correct. I’m here in case there is an emergency and a tester need to be dispatched.
Sister: Great! How soon can you be here? We’ve got a lot of guys who are ready to take their test and go home!
On call: Oh, no, I can’t come. I have to be here in case there is an emergency call.
Sister: That’s why I was transferred to you. Our tester never arrived and we need one right away.
On call: I’m very sorry, but I have to remain here in case there is an emergency call.
(He and my sister go round and round. She keeps trying to explain that their company was scheduled but the tester didn’t show, so they need the on call tester. The on call tester keeps insisting that he can’t help, because he has to be available in case there is an emergency call for the on call tester. Eventually she gives up and tries a series of different people within both companies, trying to get someone who can help. Most of the people she tries are either out of the office for an early weekend or just not answering. Eventually, she gets ahold of a manager from the testing company and explains that they need a tester ASAP.)
Manager: Absolutely! Here’s the number for our on call emergency tester. He should be able to be there in under an hour.
Sister: Actually, he’s the second person I talked to. But he insisted he couldn’t leave, because he had to be available in case there was an emergency call for a tester.
Manager: What? That makes no sense.
Sister: I know. I tried to explain, but he was very insistent that he couldn’t leave. And I’ve got a large number of very unhappy third shifters that are on the clock, on overtime, who can’t go home until these tests are done!
Manager: Can you hold for a minute? (Sister agrees, and wind up on hold for quite a bit longer than a minute.)
Manager: My apologies. I’ve… straightened things out with the on call tester. He should be there within an hour.
(He actually did show up within the hour. By the time he arrived, the testing company’s initial mistake and his insistence that the on call couldn’t leave to do testing had kept the third shift crew for hours past the end of their normal shift. By the time everyone was done and could leave, he and his company had cost [sister’s company] thousands of dollars in unnecessary overtime. To add insult to injury, between getting the mess straightened out and doing her test last to get the overtime folks home and off the clock, my sister ended up losing her entire day off. She didn’t get a replacement day.)