Years ago, I worked at a company that made computerized equipment. They had a machine shop, and I got to know the machinists slightly. These guys could make anything, and did, saving the company the need and expense of dealing with outside shops for this work. The shop charged the work they did to the projects it was for. When the shop was idle, time was charged to an overhead account.  

When the bean counters got hold of the books, they decided the overhead account was wasted money and should be eliminated. So, the policy was changed: all machinist time had to be charged to project. 

Suddenly, the price of a bracket (or whatever) went from a realistic figure to something outrageous if the shop was otherwise idle that week. The project managers, who had limited budgets, went through the roof. To “save” money, they started contracting their parts outside machine shop. Now money was flowing out of the company.  

Soon the machine shop was shut down and the machines sold off. What a cost savings!

(I’m shopping at a superstore in the clearance section and find a cold brew coffee maker. I pick it up thinking it would be an awesome gift for my husband and see the price is listed as $89.99. I think this must be a fancy electronic version at that price and look it up on my phone. It’s literally just a plastic pitcher with a metal filter and is listed for $10 on the store’s website. I’m sure this must just be a mistyped decimal point so I go find a nearby associate.)

Me: “I found this pitcher in clearance and I think it was mispriced.” *shows her the website price and the item* “What should I do?”

Associate: “Yeah, that’s weird. If you go up front and ask for a manager they should be able to look it up in the system and fix it.”

(I go up to a register and ask the cashier to call a manager. He’s very friendly and we chat a bit while we wait until the manager comes up.)

Manager: “What’s the issue?”

Cashier: “She found this item in clearance and we think it was mispriced.”

Me: “Yeah, on your website it says it’s $10.” *shows my phone to the manager*

Manager: *looks at my phone for a while and then hands it back* “Well, sometimes items on the website are a different price and that one is talking about free shipping after you spend $35, as well.”

Me: “I’m not concerned about the shipping cost; it’s the big price difference. I would get if it was a few dollars different, but a $79 price gap is big. Can you look it up in your system to see if the item was mislabeled in the store?”

Manager: “It is the price it is in the store; you can order it online if you want.”

Me: “You won’t match your own price or look it up?”

Manager: “It is the price it is in the store.”

Me: “Fine, I guess I’ll not buy it, then, and get it somewhere else. I feel bad if someone wastes their money spending $89 on a $10 item, though.”

(The manager walked off and the cashier and I had a laugh about how ridiculous that was. I got a nice cold brew pitcher from another store for the correct price later.)

(I work as a private guitar teacher with 30 to 40 students that I see for half-hour lessons once a week. I work as a contractor for a studio, which means I pay a portion of my lesson income to the studio to “rent” my room. My contract specifies that I am not an employee of the studio. It is springtime, which means that it’s time to re-enroll students for the fall semester of lessons. I have recently accepted a school teaching job and am reducing my hours at the studio to half. Naturally, this has caused some confusion and a parent has asked to spend the last five minutes of their kid’s lesson time discussing the new schedule with me.)

Customer: “I was wondering if you had any lesson times available in your schedule for a Wednesday next fall.”

Me: “Sure, let me check the book and see what I have available!”

(The studio owner refuses to give each of us a copy of our schedule and instead keeps a binder at the front desk of the studio which is extremely disorganized, constantly changing, and full of her personal notes. Everyone uses this binder every day, so it is in terrible condition.)

Me: “Okay, it looks like I have a Wednesday at five open. Would that work for you?”

Customer: “Yes, that’s perfect!”

Me: “Okay, let me just make a note here to reserve your spot. If you can just pay the $25 deposit, the time slot is yours.”

(The customer proceeds to get out cash and talk to the girl at the desk about the deposit. At this point, the owner of the studio — who was in the middle of teaching a lesson — comes out of her room and immediately stands between me and the customer.)

Studio Owner: “Can I help you with your re-enrollment?”

Customer: “No, we were just about to sign me up for a Wednesday because that works better for my schedule.”

Me: “Yeah, I thought since that spot is open in the schedule I could put her there.”

Studio Owner: *to me, like I should have known this already, apparently by reading her mind since this information was written down nowhere* “No. I’ve already scheduled someone in that spot.”

Me: “Oh, well, is there another spot available?”

(We proceed to go through each opening in the schedule, with the owner telling me each one is full, even though they are empty in the book.)

Me: “What about this one? You told me Friday this one is open.”

Studio Owner: “No. I don’t remember who’s there but someone is.”

Me: “Can we check?”

Studio Owner: “No.” *with a hint of nastiness to her voice, to the customer* “Look, I told you earlier when we talked about this, you can either have the spot you have now, or you can have no spot.”

Me: “But—”

Studio Owner: “Those are your options. Have a nice day!”

(The owner then sweeps off back to her lesson. I look at the customer. The customer looks at me. She mouths, “Wow,” and I just nod.)

Me: “So, I thought I had control over my schedule, seeing as I’m a contractor, but apparently not.”

Customer: “Yeah, I guess you don’t!”

Me: “Listen, I’ll give you my phone number. I may be able to arrange a Tuesday lesson if you are available.”

Customer: “Would you be able to come to our home?”

(I have a feeling that this is not encouraged at the studio, especially with the owner being who she is. But I nod to the customer and lower my voice, telling her to text me and we will talk about it. We quickly discuss a few details and she thanks me and leaves. During my next lesson, I get a text from another teacher at the studio saying she needs to speak to me urgently. So, between my next lessons, she pulls me aside in the hall.)

Coworker: “Don’t ever do that! Okay? Seriously. Never. You are not allowed!”

Me: “Oh, okay. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal. I’m sorry.”

Coworker: “I mean it! Don’t ever do that. [Owner] can and will sue you! Why would you ever poach our students? That hurts everyone here! Have you done it before?”

(I am extremely done with being told off by someone who is not anywhere near my boss, but I am not the type to burn bridges, so I decide to try and get her on my side and cool the raging inferno.)

Me: “No, I haven’t done that before. I didn’t realize that I couldn’t do that. Thanks for looking out for me; you always do that and I appreciate that. I have to go teach my lesson now.”

Coworker: “I’ll look the other way this time, and I’m not trying to villainize you, but I would hate for you to lose all that income if you lose your job.” *implying that she will tell the owner*

(Now, first of all, I am a mind-your-own-business type of gal, so I don’t understand why this other teacher decided it was her business to threaten me with losing my job and being sued. But I take it all in grace because what can you really do? Later, I am chatting with the girl at the desk after everyone else has gone home. I usually teach late and am often left to lock up.)

Desk Girl: “That was crazy today.”

Me: *joking* “Yeah, I have no idea what I did, but apparently I messed up pretty bad. Let’s hope I still have a job tomorrow.”

Desk Girl: “Yeah, after you had that talk with [Coworker], she came out here and asked me if you’d ever done that before, then went through [Owner]’s desk to find the contract to show it to you.”

(Everything in this studio was extremely disorganized so, of course, she never found it. The desk girl was just a high schooler. How was she supposed to know what I do with my time outside the studio? This whole experience made me realize how crazy my coworkers are. Now I’m waiting for the text from the customer. I’ll have to explain that I can’t teach them because I was threatened by a lawsuit. I’m sure that’ll get them to resign. Now I’ve lost a customer and that income. Gotta love it.)

(My grandmother dies the same day I return from a disability leave. She lived overseas so I won’t be able to go to the funeral, but I contact my manager about bereavement time as I am still working partial hours.)

Me: “My grandmother overseas passed away yesterday evening. I’m not able to attend the funeral, but I would like to take bereavement time. How would that work?”

Boss: *after checking with HR* “You will have to ask your caseworker for approval. Please let me know what they say.”

(I leave a voicemail for my caseworker the same day. She calls back almost three weeks later, telling me that they are not involved and that I should speak with my employer. I tell my boss the next day:)

Me: “The caseworker just called me back yesterday and said that they aren’t involved with bereavement. They just take the hours I work and coordinate with my benefits.”

Boss: *again, after asking HR* “Is your intent to take the full bereavement time?”

Me: “Yes.”

Boss: “Track it with the hours you work, then, and take the time soon; it’s been almost a month!”

(I would have taken it when I asked if I wasn’t given the wrong answer!)

(I work for a retail company that is mainly owned by one man but has minor partners. One of the partners is a very arrogant man who owns a company that supplies much of the stock we carry. We’ve noticed that the stock he supplies is often shoddy and falls apart even before we can sell it. This man gets upset with me one day when he finds me on my lunch break, because I am just sitting around in the staff room. I was eating lunch and sorting stock at the same time; I have stopped doing any work during my UNPAID lunch break since then. One of our managers makes a complaint about the faulty products; the partner does not care at all.)

Partner: “Just make the staff glue them together when they are lazing about the shop all day.”