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A time you’ve got in trouble at work which was incredibly justified

203 replies

PinkMoscatoLover · 04/10/2023 14:16

I was just thinking about the time when I started a new job in 2020. It was office based and we’d always have the radio playing in the background whilst working.

We’d listen to Heart, KISS or Capital FM and these stations would ALWAYS have some sort of competition going on. ‘Text us if you hear X song to win 30 grand,’ those sorts of competitions. Whenever I’d hear the specific song, I’d pick up my work phone and text the number in hope to win.

I was doing this daily for about 3/4 weeks when I received an email from someone relatively high up in the company. They’d sent me a spreadsheet of everytime I texted this number and how much each text cost. I racked up £98.56 or some nonsense like that😅

Luckily I only received a warning and was told not to do this again. They also highlighted that my work phone was to be used for WORK purposes only. Unofficially, my manager told me that the only reason I had kept my job is because I was ‘bloody good at it’ and reminded me to not be so stupid again.

Have you ever got in trouble for something at work and you totally deserved the bollocking?

OP posts:
PinkMoscatoLover · 04/10/2023 17:57

Getting caught Emailing all day with this guy at work I was secretly shagging who was a manager (we were hauled in front of the main boss with reams and reams of our often explicit emails printed out)

@janicegarvey oh stop it you’re fucking lying😭😭😭what the hell happened??!

@Panda89 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@Edwardandtubbs phew okay good that doesn’t sound too bad albeit very awkward.

@Thewizardbinbag I just turned 21 so old enough to know better! I don’t even think I realised it was going to constantly charge the company after every single text. I just wanted to win!

OP posts:
coxesorangepippin · 04/10/2023 17:53

Used to work in b and q

Often used to take over 100k per day

I left one of the till boxes on the side whilst I popped to the loo

Cue written warning

Boss said there was around 20 grand in that till

I just didn't give a shit

Gcsunnyside23 · 04/10/2023 17:50

I mailed a £15k check to the wrong company. The letter had details of agreement we had, how much else they were due to get and other stuff we were just giving them
I was slagging off a much higher up on teams but my friend was in a meeting with her and sharing screen to the whole room.
When I was working in a supermarket around 18 years old I was on checkout and while very hungover was sick in a bin in front of customers 😂
Same job I spoiled £400 worth of fish and meat but it wasn't even out of date, I had the wrong month
Got told off by IT for using dirty words on a password and they told my manager.

Iamnotastick · 04/10/2023 17:40

Oh god, where to start,

Shitty call centre, got caught ringing my own number over and over again so I didnt have to actually talk to anyone.

When HR did a massive email audit and we were all hauled in one by one with printed out copies of how we had used the internet or our email unprofessionally, including ne having a row with my then boyfriend and when i had google image searched myself.

I also used to get drunk in wetherspoons before starting my boring call centre shift at 1pm. I def thought I hid it better than I did.

LittleGreenDuck · 04/10/2023 17:40

Watching "Celebs Go Dating" on colleague's iPad whilst the boss was at a meeting off site. Dobbed in by the cleaner.

SirenSays · 04/10/2023 17:37

Wheelchair jousting competitions on night shift.

spitefulandbadgrammar · 04/10/2023 17:32

MrsEdnaWelthorpe · 04/10/2023 16:59

Long time ago, in my early 20s, I went to work straight from clubbing. I thought I would pass as sober. Turned out I was wrong Grin

I miss working on magazines when you could come in the day after events, parties, etc, still shitfaced and no one batted an eye. I used to come in to show face, then go downstairs to the Mexican place, get an extra spicy burrito and take it to the sick bay and have a nice lie down under a blanket, dozing with the burrito right by my face so I could sleep nibble. Then come back to my desk around midday, refreshed, work until 1pm, then take my lunch break. Quite often there’d be a hair of the dog Prosecco opportunity around 3pm for someone’s birthday/work anniversary/leaving do.

Times I’ve been in trouble: calling a colleague “milquetoast” and saying another had an Oedipus complex; different jobs. Both times I only got in trouble once they’d googled it, so really I blame the internet. Also both accusations were true.

MWNA · 04/10/2023 17:25

Worked in a bakery at 16. Was asked to bag up 100 bread rolls that had been ordered for a party.
They were hot fresh out of the oven and I bagged them up in plastic bags. Ruined!

Barleysugar86 · 04/10/2023 17:16

Thewizardbinbag · 04/10/2023 17:04

@Barleysugar86
They didn’t get in trouble for toilet sex but you got in trouble for talking about it? That’s not fair!

i don’t think it’s entirely clear what they were doing together in the disabled cubicle and I didn’t see it personally but the person who walked in implied it looked dirty. I think he told his manager he was comforting her from some bad news. His manager obviously believed him it was nothing sexual or she wouldn’t have been so mad at me 😂

sonjadog · 04/10/2023 17:14

My dog was rehomed to me and the very first week he was with me I had to go into work one day. He couldn't be left home alone so early on, so he had to come with me. Dogs are strictly forbidden in campus buildings, but my office is right beside the back stair fire escape leading into the car park. So I arrived, checked the area was empty, snuck him up the stair and he slept under my desk all day. On the way, I checked the corridor and stairwell were empty, snuck him back down the stairs, opened the fire doors congratulating myself on having pulled it off... And there in the middle of the car park stood the entire institute leadership, just coming back from a day seminar. I was not popular that day.

Thewizardbinbag · 04/10/2023 17:04

@Barleysugar86
They didn’t get in trouble for toilet sex but you got in trouble for talking about it? That’s not fair!

Barleysugar86 · 04/10/2023 17:00

First office job. Colleague told me they'd walked into the disabled toilet and caught two other employees in there in a compromising position. It was pretty juicy gossip. I of course shared it with the other assistants my age.

Unfortunately they had a big mouth and shared it with the senior managers when they asked what we were laughing about.

Because compromised employee and myself worked in the same department and it got back to his manager I got very told off from the manager about spreading gossip and harming others reputations. Fair enough I suppose but unfairly I don't think anyone else got in trouble but me!

MrsEdnaWelthorpe · 04/10/2023 16:59

Long time ago, in my early 20s, I went to work straight from clubbing. I thought I would pass as sober. Turned out I was wrong Grin

IAmAnIdiot123 · 04/10/2023 16:58

When I was 18 I was working in a call centre, one day a girl was repeating something phonetically and when she said d I shouted "for dick" at her in a really exaggerated way. Unfortunately the call was recordered and you could hear it clear as day. I still have a stupid sense of humour and still laugh about it but it was a justified bollocking.

Glittertwins · 04/10/2023 16:57

Someone I used to work with got sacked for diverting his office phone to a mobile number abroad. He was calling it, claiming he was working so the wife never thought anything of it. Unfortunately managers got phone bills and that particular extension had a bill that was sizeably bigger than the rest of the team put together.

eosmum · 04/10/2023 16:57

Not me but a colleague, years ago in Ireland and she used used to ring from Dublin to Cork a few times a day. Manager came in one day with a stack of that old computer paper with the perforations and green lines, must have been a foot high. It was her phone calls, he told her it would be cheaper to put a satellite into space or something like that, than pay for her calls. She just got a warning.

HerRoyalNotness · 04/10/2023 16:54

I was newish at a company and had asked how we booked annual leave. I was told just check with your counterpart to make sure they were going to be there.
I did that then sent an email to manager and other relevant people when I’d be away on vacation.
went on vacation, come home to a disciplinary. no one knew where I was apparently.
I was supposed to have told HR and filled out a request. Whoops!
I replied by letter explaining the process I’d been told and who knew about it.
turned out ok in the end, genuine error and lack of comms

Thewizardbinbag · 04/10/2023 16:53

@PinkMoscatoLover
How old were you when you used the work phone for the competition entries?
The whole thing with those is how much it costs and to always get the bill payer’s permission! It’s definitely something a 16 year old might do in a first job so I’m just wondering.

Thewizardbinbag · 04/10/2023 16:49

ShellySarah · 04/10/2023 14:18

Nope. I've been bullied and totally didn't deserve it.

Why does someone always have to try and mess up a lighthearted fun thread with comments like this.
If you need to talk about your situation then start a thread or see a therapist. But why comment on something which clearly doesn’t relate to you when it is meant to be lighthearted?

Justrolledmyeyesoutloud · 04/10/2023 16:47

Great thread!!

Yep another phone bill one - used to call one of the engineers that l fancied and talk for ages but we're married now so it was worth it!

janicegarvey · 04/10/2023 16:47

Panda89 · 04/10/2023 16:42

Oh this makes me sound like a total child but I was about 25 😂
A colleague and I laminated everything possible from another colleagues desk (including his work access pass and a £5 note). Honestly thinking about it makes me belly laugh.

The laminator was confiscated after that incident… apparently laminator sheets are quite expensive.

🤣🤣🤣

Edwardandtubbs · 04/10/2023 16:44

PinkMoscatoLover · 04/10/2023 16:04

@ShellySarah I certainly wasn’t referring to getting bullied!

@Edwardandtubbs Hahaha omg I love how you guys cooked up a full meal for yourselves😂 caught red handed! Was the Landlord angry or did he let you and the chef get away with a stern warning?

He was bewildered at first - he thought they were an order waiting to go out (not that we would ever have served food like that) and then we sheepishly admitted we’d cooked it all for ourselves. He shouted at us and told us not to do it again. He was more worried that it was unhygienic than we were taking the piss I think!

Panda89 · 04/10/2023 16:42

Oh this makes me sound like a total child but I was about 25 😂
A colleague and I laminated everything possible from another colleagues desk (including his work access pass and a £5 note). Honestly thinking about it makes me belly laugh.

The laminator was confiscated after that incident… apparently laminator sheets are quite expensive.

MyPurpleHeart · 04/10/2023 16:35

During lockdown my director sent most people to WFH. He picked a select few of us that couldn't, and had to be skeleton staff. For context, no customers came to our office ever and we were sat there twiddling our thumbs. It was totally unfair and he picked his favourites to WFH.

His wife worked in the company and got WFH because she had to supervise her college aged kids studies. Called it home schooling

We were not happy about this and another girl and I spent most of the day slagging them off on teams. On the company PC

The director had all our passwords and decided to log on our computers one day and go through our chats

Yeah that was an awkward few days. We got a right bollocking. When I asked why he spent his weekends reading our teams messages I really didn't do myself any favours

janicegarvey · 04/10/2023 16:14

Haha where do I start

Getting caught Emailing all day with this guy at work I was secretly shagging who was a manager (we were hauled in front of the main boss with reams and reams of our often explicit emails printed out) .

Spending hours on eBay and ivillage (remember that?) when i wasn't even meant to go online (same manager as above had secretly given me access even though us lowly minions weren't allowed internet). This was early 00s

Putting a customer on hold on the phone to go and have a cigarette

Putting customers on hold just cos they were dicks and I wanted a break from their shit

Telling a customer to fuck off in more than one job

I will say all of these jobs were in various call centres so fucking hideous with vile customers so believe me when I say they deserved it

I'm self employed now 😆😆😆😆

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