If you’ve ever worked at a place where the managers were so strict about the rules that it ultimately messed up production, you know how frustrating it can be.

Sometimes, it’s best to let employees do their own thing if it doesn’t interfere with the end result.

In this story, a retail worker explained how things went off the rails at a new job and then it went from bad to worse.

Read on to get all the details below.

We got here 8:59, not 9:00, you still have to set us up with new phones.

“This story comes from a fairly large retail chain store that I currently still work at.

I had just started and transferred from a different retail store, working electronics to this new store doing the same thing, and was still unclear on how to set up contract phones, which is very different from setting up prepaid phones.

My manager was still new as well and had problems scheduling us, so this particular night I was back there alone, which wouldn’t have been a problem, because I was used to being pretty alone when I work, except I had no clue, as stated above, on how to set up contract phones.

At about 8:15 I get a call transferred back to my department, so I answer the call.

Me: Electronics, how can I help you?

Customer: I was just wondering what time you all stop setting up phones?

Me: The connection center closes at 9:00, but there’s no one back her right now that can-

Customer: Thanks!

Oh, jeez…

My night goes on as normal until 8:59, when the customer gets back to electronics and asks me to set up 3 new lines and to transfer 3 numbers to the new phones. Which wasn’t an unreasonable request.

The reason we can’t set up phones after 9 is because we lose the sale if we call the carrier, which happens a lot because of how old our systems are old and make mistakes, and if we lose the sale the store loses money

Me: I’m really sorry ma’am, but I have no experience setting up contract phones, and also it’s 9:00, so our connection center is closed.

Come on…

Customer: No, I got here at 8:59, you have to set up my phones. If you don’t I will lose these numbers.

Me: I don’t know how to set up contract phones. Also, it doesn’t matter what time you got here, it’s now 9:00 and I can’t do anything for you.

Customer: No, you know how to set up my phones, you just don’t want to. I want to see your manager.

I obliged, and called the current manager on duty, which was a backroom manager and had no idea on anything in electronics, and explained to him the situation, and that they only got there at 8:59. He told me to go ahead and set up the new lines.

He left shortly after, and I got stuck trying to set up the lines by myself. I’m desperately trying to work this program when this lady’s mom shows up with her kid, and then she tells her mom that I tried to get out of setting up their phones, giving me a smug look.

The phones they wanted were not there, so they asked if they could set up the phones there, then go down to a different store location, return their phones and get the ones they wanted, because their phone numbers would be cancelled at midnight that night.

Sure…

I had no idea of the answer at the time, but you could do that with other products sold at our store, so I told them yes. (They couldn’t, I found out the next day, since they were signing a contract here they have to return it here)

I can say I was definitely frustrated with the situation, I was trying to set up three new lines, with only two people there, and a crying baby screaming at the top of her lungs.

With the end of my shift quickly approaching (10:00) I called one of the night managers to come help me.

He had no idea how to set up the phone and the customers were getting antsy. The manager left, neither of us really knowing what to do.

10:00 came and went as I decided to call the carrier I was trying to set up the customers with. We lost the sale, and the carrier got them all set up and good to go. So I finished up, and got them to sign the contract. And they left.

I was still unclear on what to do with our portion of the contract so I called a different manager to help me out.

This was a train wreck.

She came back to electronics, and started screaming at me, letting me know that I shouldn’t have set up the phones that late and that I was way past my shift end time, and that I was just racking up overtime.

At this point I was in tears trying to explain that another manager had told me to set up these phones, and that I had no idea what I was doing and no one knew how to help me. She promptly apologized and told me to clock out ASAP, and she’d talk to me tomorrow.

The next day she apologized again and bought me lunch and told me the basics of setting up contract phones and how to deal with customers like the ones I had dealt with.”

Reddit users spoke up.

This person had a lot to say.

Another reader shared their thoughts.

This Reddit user chimed in.

Another person spoke up.

Jeez, talk about starting a new job off on the wrong foot…

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.