Some bosses can be cunning and use their power to manipulate client relationships for their own gain. They may try to exploit the client’s trust or deceive them in order to increase profits or gain an advantage over competitors.
But what happens when your boss decides to give away your “thank you” gift to someone else and not even ask you once? This is a story on how the employee took a revenge.
We want to know how you feel about this.
Backstory:
The Original Poster (OP) is a huge 49ers fan. A few years ago, OP made it back to the Super Bowl. OP worked at a consulting firm with a handful of accounts he interacted with directly.
One client, in particular, knew how big of a Niner’s fan OP was. OP was the day-to-day lead on his account. He liked working with OP, and they became friends, often grabbing drinks or dinner after their meetings. He had access to a pair of extra company seats for the game, and as a thank you, he wanted to give them to OP as a gift. He passed the tickets over to the partner on that account to be given to OP as a surprise.
The game came and went, they lost, and it was bad. The next time OP and the client met, drinks were gone afterward, and he asked, “Hey, by the way, why didn’t you attend the game? I heard someone else had been in your seats.”
OP asked, “What game?” The client said, “The Super Bowl!” Perplexed, OP replied, “I didn’t have seats for the Super Bowl.”
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What Happened Next?
It was revealed to OP by him that a pair of his company tickets had been given to his jerk partner as a gift for OP to attend. OP had no clue about it. He appeared stunned, instructing OP to ask around discreetly and inform him later.
When OP returned to the office the following week, he discovered through one of the secretaries that the jerk partner had bestowed a pair of Super Bowl tickets to another one of his clients as a gift from their company.
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Under different circumstances, OP may have chosen to overlook those kinds of situations to avoid conflict. Still, those were tickets located on the 30-yard line to witness the 49ers play in the Super Bowl.
OP was infuriated. OP contemplated facing the jerk partner himself, but it dawned on him that the client had noticed OP’s absence initially. Therefore, if OP allowed him to handle the situation, there would be no negative consequences for him.
Consequently, OP texted him, “Hey, I wanted to express my gratitude for considering me for those tickets. However, they were given to another of our company’s clients.” Shortly after, he responded in all caps, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??” and added, “Forget I mentioned it. I’ll handle it.”
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What Was The Plan?
He followed up with OP about formulating a plan. A few days later, they were asked to come down for a meeting in their office. The client requested the partner to be present, which was not entirely unusual, so the jerk partner and OP hopped on a flight and headed to their office.
Little did the jerk partner know OP’s client had orchestrated a wonderfully awkward show to catch him red-handed.
When OP and the partner entered the conference room, it was all the usual suspects, along with a woman in her 30s they didn’t recognize. OP’s client immediately introduced her. She was Stephanie Suchandsuch, VP from another department; she wanted to sit in on that meeting. OP’s client said, “You must have already known her from the Super Bowl!”
She then responded as she went to shake OP’s hand, “Oh, I don’t think so. Did we meet there? I’m sorry if I forgot.”
The client responded, “Jeez, Steph, how much did you have to drink? They were sitting right next to you!”
The client looked at OP, and OP apologized to him for not being there. At that point, the jerk partner looked uncomfortable, probably trying to find an excuse.
As Stephanie spoke over him, he had started with a “Uhm…”. She had said that so and so from the other company were in the other seats. She added that she was wondering why they had given company seats to those guys. She asked if there was a project they were working on together.
There was no such project as they had belonged to entirely different industries, and it would have been like Coca-Cola partnering with John Deere. Once again, Jerk Partner said, “Uh,” and the client immediately spoke over him, and said “I gave you those tickets for OP.”
At that point, Jerk Partner’s face had turned bright red. He had responded, “Ohh, uhh, well, he couldn’t make it, so he must have given the seats away to someone else?” Then, he turned to OP, looking for him to cover for him. The client smirked at OP.
OP responded, “Uh, what are you talking about? Client, you gave me tickets to the Super Bowl?”
Suddenly, the client raised his voice and told Jerk Partner that those tickets were a personal thank-you gift from him to OP and asked if he had given them to some other client.
Jerk Partner had butted in, saying, “Oh, uhm, maybe something got mixed up in the office.”
The client had gone quiet, which seemed like an eternity to Jerk Partner. Then, he looked down, grabbed his portfolio and iPad, put them into his briefcase, and said, “I think this meeting is over. OP, it seems as if I owe you a thank-you gift. Let’s go to lunch. Stephanie, you’re welcome to join… Jerk Partner, I need to evaluate our relationship. Please go back home and expect to hear from us next week.”
Jerk Partner had suggested that he would like to join, presumably to do damage control. However, Stephanie had sternly told him she didn’t think that was a good idea and had asked the front desk to see Jerk Partner out.
As soon as he stepped into the elevator, everyone laughed hysterically.
Stephanie had not been a VP; she had been an employee at the company whom the client had drafted into helping with his pre-planned meeting skit. However, she had ended up coming to lunch with them and had been a fellow Niners fan and a total blast to hang out with.
On their way to the restaurant, OP received a desperate text from Jerk Partner, urging him to “cover for the firm” and promising to discuss things later. OP replied that they needed to talk but would see what he could do.
How Did The Client Deal With The Jerk Partner?
The client told OP to wait a couple of hours and then respond to him:
- To expect invoices for the resale value of the super bowl tickets, over $10K, and the lunch. He picked a pricey spot, made a big show of overspending, and expected them to be paid immediately.
- Expectation that OP will be given a direct apology.
- Expected a written apology to his company for what he considered theft, and
- He would only interact with OP or another of the firm’s partners in the future, never Jerk Partner.
That whole thing caused a stir with the other partners, and OP looked great because it appeared that OP had made a good-faith effort to save the client for the firm despite being the victim of the situation.
The client would transfer to another partner, which meant Jerk Partner lost his profit share on any work with them, and the other partners in the firm made Jerk Partner pay the invoices out of his salary.
OP left the firm a few months later for a much better position. The client ultimately terminated their relationship with that firm a year later.
Source: Reddit