Good work will cost a good rate, and refusing to pay only sets you up for revenge.

In today’s story, one Redditor is told he’s not going to get paid.

He left without finishing his work and without any drama, but the customer quickly found out there was a big problem!

Find out what the Redditor did to get revenge…

Don’t mess with an engineer

I worked for a company that provides specialised equipment used in manufacturing. (To protect my anonymity, I’ll have to be vague about what exactly this machine does.)

During my time working in this field I got to know many clients who would need these machines installed and serviced.

One of these customers we’ll call “Jake”.

I later left the company to for a different job, but Jake apparently kept my number.

Jack begs OP for help.

One afternoon, I got a call from Jake that they wanted a new unit installing and another unit needed maintenance and wanted to know if I was available.

I let him know that I left the company but that I could pass him on to someone who could help.

He tells me he’ll pay 2x my current rate to install the unit over the weekend. He lets me know that the company has increased the rates for installation, and the company just can’t afford it. The instructions they sent over just aren’t clear enough, and their engineers are scratching their heads trying to figure it out.

He begs me to consider it and I agree.

There are two installation options…

For more context, Installing this unit can take a good few hours or up to a day on your own.

The company gives you two options.

You can either pay for an engineer to come and install it, or you can save money and they will send instructions, so the customer’s own engineers can install it.

The instructions aren’t easy to follow, and its company policy that if someone has started to install the equipment, the supplier wouldn’t get involved since they couldn’t verify that any of the pieces were broken.

This will be important later.

OP wasn’t going to get paid!

I drive down on the weekend, and they show me the boxes of equipment.

I set to work, and I make good progress installing the unit.

Around 6 hours in, and I’m stopped by Jake who greets me.

I let him know I’m nearly finished, and he tells me, “Sorry, but they just don’t have the budget to pay you.” [And that] he “understands my frustration,” but his “engineers can take it from here.”

To say I was frustrated was an understatement.

I wanted revenge.

There’s a test button that is the perfect opportunity for revenge!

There’s a small button inside the unit that changes the unit into test mode. This is done to perform maintainence on the unit, but it’s impossible to configure the unit with this button pressed.

It’s only possible to reach this button using a pin so it’s not easily pressed during installation.

Because of this, the installation instructions don’t mention it.

There’s no real way of telling the equipment is in test mode, it just won’t work normally.

Jake called…

I think you can guess where this is going.

I click the button, collect my things and leave.

Monday morning, I get a call from Jake.

I declined.

Jack has no options!

I knew my old company wouldn’t get involved since I already started installing the unit.

I knew his engineers would never figure it out.

I just had to let him stew.

OP finally answers the phone.

A few days later with many missed calls, I finally pick up.

Jake is furious.

He asks me where the hell I’ve been and why I haven’t been picking up the phone. He tells me they can’t figure it out how to configure the machine and they need my help.

I tell him, “Why is this my problem? You won’t pay me.”

OP demanded to be paid upfront.

He told me he was sorry, and they would work something out if I could get there as soon as possible.

I told him “Oh no, you’re going to pay me £7,000 upfront before I do anything.”

I’d never felt this powerful before.

He screamed at me for a bit and hung up.

Jake finally agreed to pay.

He called back a day later after saying he’s sorry for how he acted and said that if I could come fix it he would pay me, in a totally defeated tone.

He tried to fight it saying he’ll pay when I was done but I was having non of it.

After a bit of back and fourth, he agrees to pay me.

The money hit my account, and I came in the next day.

It only took 20 minutes to fix.

The look of confusion over his face when I took out a pin and changed the unit from test mode was priceless.

It was even more priceless seeing his reaction to me packing up my tools and leaving after only 20 minutes of configuring.

Easiest £7,000 I’d ever made.

Don’t try to mess with a professional problem-solver.

I’m glad this Redditor felt he got justice — but I gotta say, I would’ve upped my rate even more!

What does Reddit think? Let’s read the comments below.

One Redditor noted it wasn’t about the work performed but the expertise obtained.

Another person echoed my sentiment about upping the rate.

Other readers had experience with this kind of work.

And one Redditor still had an unanswered question.

He deserved every cent he was paid!

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.