When you get hired into a new job, you can expect that there will be a learning curve and that you will be provided with some training.

What would you do if you were put into a position with no training and expected to make sure everything ran smoothly without any support?

That is what happened to the interim manager in this story, and when he asked for some help, he was told to take some unpaid time off to evaluate his position.

So he did, and found a new job.

Check out the details below.

Force me to take 2 weeks of unpaid time off? Have fun running the place without me.

I used to work at this one coffee shop, my first chain coffee shop after working only at local or family run ones.

Simply put, it was awful.

Owners would micromanage everything without knowing anything about how the business ran, never listened to their staff, and only cared about the money.

Typical out of touch owners of a business.

I was hired to replace a manager that had walked out of one of their locations, leaving it with only part time staff.

I was told I was being hired on as the “acting manager” until they either hired someone else or they felt I would be a good fit for the position after my 6 month probation.

This sounds like a terrible job.

I won’t go into everything that went wrong because there’s a lot but to summarize, it was the worst.

I was expected to cover all no shows (which had me working 90-100 hours a week), I wasn’t allowed to fire anyone no matter how many things they did wrong (someone actually showed up to work drunk and I still wasn’t allowed to fire them).

Any changes I wanted to implement were shot down (like replacing old parts in the espresso machine, shortening our hours to save money on labor, bringing in items that customers would always ask for).

I was stressed, over worked, and irritated when the owner comes in to talk to me about sales for the store.

We weren’t making enough to warrant the hours I had scheduled and he wasn’t going to pay me any more over time.

I would only work the hours I’m scheduled and if someone no showed, I had to have someone else cover those shifts.

He doesn’t care about reality, just being right.

I tried to explain to him that I only came in when no one else would cover, it just so happened that the people he allowed to continue to work here had terrible availability.

Making the schedule was already hard enough, getting someone other than myself to come in on their day off was next to impossible.

On top of all that, I had to learn the ropes myself.

There was no one to train me so all the managerial knowledge, ordering, scheduling, I learned myself.

No one other than me knew how to order coffee, had the numbers for the repair guys, anything other than making coffee and using the till, I was the only one that knew.

He wasn’t hearing any of it.

If it were her store, she would have the ability to make smart changes.

Owner: “All I’m hearing is excuses. This is your store. If you can’t handle running it. I’ll start looking for someone who will.”

Me: “Wasn’t that the plan though? It’s been 3 months since my probation period ended and you never gave me the manager position so I assumed you were looking for someone to take over.”

Owner: “I think it’s in your best interest to take some time off. Start thinking about your position here and whether you actually want to start moving up (I had mentioned in the interview I was looking forward to working my way up in the business).”

Me: “I can’t. There’s no one to cover me.”

Owner: “You’re taking this time off.”

Me: “Is this a paid break?”

Owner: “No, consider this a time out for you to get yourself sorted. Take the two weeks to rest and we’ll see what your position will be like when you get back.”

Me: “Owner, I can’t really afford to take that amount of time off. I can’t even take 2 days without having to come in and cover.”

Owner: “Don’t worry about the business right now. It’ll run without you.”

Now, to put into perspective, I was basically the manager at that point.

I made the schedules, I did the orders, I knew the codes to the safe and the alarm.

I wasn’t allowed to hire someone to assist me and no one worked enough time to be able to cover even half my shifts.

I knew this, the staff knew this, customers knew it.

This was a very smart move.

I made sure to block all work numbers and spent those 2 weeks looking for another job.

I managed to find one after a few days that paid significantly more.

I sent my resignation email to payroll and the owner (knowing he never checks it), deleted my account off the POS system (being a manager means I have access to it from home) and spent the rest of the leave catching up on well deserved sleep, having blocked all work numbers.

I’m not getting paid so I’m not working.

According to my coworkers, everything started going wrong the next day.

One of the openers didn’t show and the next staff member didn’t have keys.

Owner wasn’t answering his phone so they left a message.

Owner didn’t show up until one of the regulars called asking if the place was closed down.

He showed up 4 hours after they were supposed to open.

Orders weren’t done, inventory was missed, 4 no shows, you name it, it went wrong.

If she isn’t being paid, why would she answer a call.

Owner tried every way he could to get a hold of me, even using a customers phone to call me (too bad I didn’t answer any calls that weren’t in my contacts already).

After 2 weeks, I turn my phone back on and get a call the same day from Owner.

We agree to meet the next day.

Oh, she had time to do more than just think.

Owner: “So, you’ve had some time to think.”

Me: “I have. It’s really given me perspective on my position here.”

Owner: “We can start you back on your normal hours for now and we’re looking for a manager to take on more of your responsibilities.”

Me: “Oh, that’s good. I’m actually quitting.”

He was silent for a few minutes.

I think he was waiting to tell him I was kidding.

Sucks for you buddy, I’m serious.

Me: “I’ve already e-mailed payroll and removed my log in from the computer. Here are my keys. Good luck.”

And I left.

Owner tried calling me a few times but stopped once I told him to check his e-mail.

This owner really has no clue.

I was on okay terms with some of the staff that worked there and apparently majority of them had quit after I had left.

Owner did find a replacement pretty quickly but without anyone to train them (owner didn’t know anything about running the business), they were in a bad position from the get go and left pretty soon after they were hired.

I am always checking reviews from customers and employees and they have consistently sucked for the past year and seem to be on a downward trend over the past year.

The owner had no idea what he was getting himself into and it seems he still hasn’t learned.

Read on to see what the people in the comments think about this story.

I bet the business won’t remain open much longer.

It really doesn’t make sense.

I would have paid to see that picture.

Some business owners are beyond clueless.

Yes, people need to know their worth.

How can this guy own a business and not have a clue as to how to run it.

Kudos to this worker for getting the heck out of there.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.