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Every business wants to seem bigger than it is, but few go as far as inventing employees.

A support worker at a small online retailer watched her team shrink from four people to one, and she picked up everything the others left behind.

But after months of overwork, her boss’s fix wasn’t a new hire. It was a request that she answer customers under the names of her departed coworkers so nobody would catch on.

When someone phoned asking for a person who’d left months ago, she had to claim that person was busy.

Now she’s exhausted, overworked, and now being forced to play a part she never signed up for.

Keep reading for the full story.

Boss wants customers to think employees who quit still work here

I work customer support for a small online retailer. We had four people handling emails earlier this year.

Two quit, one got laid off, and nobody was replaced. It’s just me now.

That’s when things went from bad to worse.

Last week, my boss told me to start replying to customers using my former coworkers’ email addresses and signatures.

His reasoning is that customers might lose confidence if they realize the entire support department is one person.

Yesterday, a customer called asking to speak to someone who left three months ago. My boss told me to say they were busy and offer to help instead.

The employee is starting to feel like they’re in over their head.

I’m already handling everyone’s workload, and now I’m expected to pretend they’re still here too.

This is getting ridiculous.

Sounds like a terrible place to work.

What did Reddit think?

Being too good at your job can backfire.

Maybe this employee is in a unique position.

This is just plain unethical.

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who finds herself in a tough spot when a coworker reports her for the “policy violation” of having her personal water bottle at the register.

It’s time to find a better job.

The boss in this story has confused staffing with stagecraft.

Four jobs landed on one person, and instead of fixing that, he decided the real problem was what customers might think.

Signing emails as people who quit is awkward at best and a trust problem waiting to happen at worst. She deserves a raise for the workload alone, never mind the impersonations.

Customers can forgive a small team, but they rarely forgive a fake one.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.