Some people don’t realize that forcing someone’s hand can backfire faster than they think.

So, what would you do if your old employer demanded you fix their software for free after you left the company for a new job?

Would you push back and refuse? Or would you play along and make them regret it?

In the following story, one developer finds himself in this predicament and opts for the latter.

Here’s what he did.

IP for Free

Many moons ago, I was a developer working in my first job, a small software company.

I had a one-year contract and was developing an administrative system to process equipment tests and test results. I wrote it for the software company I worked for, which developed it bespoke for a customer.

It was a long time ago, and almost all software was custom-made at that time.

His job was okay, but he found something new.

The customer was nice and had a good IT officer on-site who could also develop, but had no time to do so, and certainly not from scratch.

When the end of my contract was coming near and the software was running, I tried to negotiate new terms, but without an interesting offer. The job market was not good at that time, living was cheap in that area, and I guess they just assumed I would stay.

However, I found something else. I was young and did not really care about anything other than cool assignments with new technology.

At this point, he had started his new job and didn’t want to help.

So, on the last day, I shook hands and wished them the best. That did not go well. They wanted me to stay and demanded I stay, but under local law, walking in the next day meant accepting a contract with all attached obligations, like a non-competition agreement, 8 weeks’ notice, etc.

I walked out, and a week later, I got a threatening letter from their lawyer about abandoning the post, misleading them, and causing financial losses. Whilst I assumed they had little on me, even a little problem is a big one if you do not have money and quick access to legal support.

They wanted me to fix issues on the bespoke system as the customer made some tickets that no one could resolve, but I had already started a new job. I did not have the source code anymore, no libraries, etc.

The company was happy that he did exactly what they wanted.

I found a lawyer who basically said, “Go and do it, commit to nothing, and this way, you will show your goodwill. That is enough in this jurisdiction.”

I went to the software company to get the sources and libraries that I needed to work on the software. I informed them that I would go to the customer site to use it, as I needed their hardware and installation to see their issues on-prem and fix them right there, so the customer could sign off and provide absolution.

The software company agreed and was probably proud of pressuring me into working for them for free, as a punishment for my betrayal.

He left the source code with the customer before grabbing food.

I went to the customer site, sat with the IT officer to set up a dev and test environment, copied the source code, libraries, and documentation, and dug into my code.

At the end of the day, the issue list was addressed.

Before closing down, I explained that I needed to delete the source code when ready, but that I was hungry and wanted to grab a bite, and that they should continue testing, just to be sure.

Suddenly, the customer no longer needed his old employer’s services.

When I came back, the tests were successful. I deleted all source code, etc., took pictures of what I did, and emailed the report.

In parallel, the IT officer was labeling a portable drive, and I saw a finished backup job on his monitor.

The customer never made a ticket anymore and did not extend their maintenance & support contract.

Nice! That was very well-played on his end.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit feel about what he did here.

This sums it up.

Here’s a good way of explaining it.

Yet another person who explains what happened.

Yes, that’s correct.

That was a smart move. The company he worked for deserved to lose that contract.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.