Greedy co-worker

The BBQ Pit
1

It all started out with a stupid mistake on my part.

I was preparing my vehicle for my night job, delivering pizza. That is, I was putting the lighted sign atop my car. To get power to the sign (through the cigarette lighter outlet), I had to turn my ignition to ON. In my car, this also locks the car doors. Well, after I found a working sign, I mount it on my roof, position my powercord, then shut the door. :eek: :smack: :eek:

Yep, I locked my keys in the car.

I went in to my manager to tell him what happened. He said that a gas station across the street employs one of our drivers part time, and they might loan me a Slim Jim (a tool for unlocking car doors).

As it was, that fellow driver was working that night at the gas station and did loan me the Slim Jim. I went back to my car and attempted to pop the lock. But the combination of the extreme cold and my inexperience wasn’t giving me much luck. So I went back into our store to warm up before trying again. There, the topic co-worker, T, offered to try popping my lock.

We went back out to try again. Within about 15 seconds, T nudged the mechanism enough to open the door. Great! I said my thanks, took the SJ back to the station, and went about work for the evening.

The next day, T approached me and mentioned that it would’ve cost my at least $70 to get a locksmith out to do the job he did. “Yeah?” I asked. Well, he wanted $10 for his “professional” services. :rolleyes:

Geez, T, y’think you would’ve mentioned that before “volunteering”? You know we only make $30-40 a night.

Fuck you if you ever need help with the stores computer. I’ll charge you the bargain rate of $100/hr, but I’ll be upfront about it!

2

PS - Yes, I paid T’s “fee”. Hope he chokes on it!

3

Wow AWB a co-worker helps you out in a jam and then charges you for it? That is more than greedy that is outright rude! In a similar situation I’d prolly offer to buy the co-worker a beverage of their choice as thanks but no-way should they ask for payment!

The mind boggles.

4

That’s some huge pair T’s got on him. Surprised he can walk normally at all. The proper time to talk about payment would have been before offering his services - along the lines of “For $10 I’ll do it for you.” Which is still very, very, very small of him. His karma must be pretty dark.

5

Beat his ass.

Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.

6

Heh heh heh.

Anyhoo, definitely get 'im back. It may be just as simple as getting that same $10 back and smirking at him. But, yeah, get 'im back. Maybe since it happened on the job, you can get reimbursed.

7

Geez, that’s low! It would have been remarkably inconsiderate of him to ask for money up front, but to do the job, posing as doing you a favor, and then approach you about payment. . .the mind boggles! But I am a strong believer in karma. Even if you don’t get him back, it’ll come right back to him.

8

And it wasn’t just “a jam”. AWB was on the clock; if he couldn’t get into his car, he couldn’t make deliveries. It wasn’t a favor to AWB so much as it was averting a crisis for the store. Does this guy expect compensation if he unjams the cash register?

9

You know, the fact that he asked for the $10 the next day makes me think he told someone (a friend or family member) about helping you, and they said he should have charged you. Someone else must have put a bug in his ear about getting money for helping you.

Who knows? Maybe he posted on a message board about how he helped out a co-worker and a bunch of people replied, “Hey man, you should have charged him for it! It would have cost him $70 for a locksmith!”

Is there anyway you can mention it to your boss and see what he thinks of it? I’d hate for you to get him in trouble, but this really stinks.

10

Why did you pay him $10? I would have said, “You should have mentioned it before you started.”

11

If he was being serious about the $10, which it sounds like he was, I would’ve headed to the bank and come back with 1,000 pennies for him.

12

Pray that he asks you for a favor.

13

2 years later update: :smiley:

About 6 months after the above incident, T had a problem with his truck. He needed a ride about 25 miles south to get his tools and his spare car to fix it. He then asked if anyone could give him a ride.

I happen to have just gotten off of work, had no plans, my family was out of town. I could’ve easily driven him there.

I was tempted to offer him a ride, with the proviso “… for $30” (about 1/2 of what a cab ride down there would cost).

But I didn’t want to be as big an asshole as he. Neither did I want to spend the rest of my night shuttling him 50 miles out of my way.

Silence is golden. So I kept my mouth shut, drove straight home, and let him figure another way home.

14

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15

I would probably have paid him too. Precisely because I would have found his behavior so despicable. I can’t really explain why in my mind, paying him would debase him even more, but I feel this way.

16

Or if you really want to be a dick…file a complaint with the beureau of automotive repair for that state. Service was performed free and under the table, any legit service most likely requires a written estimate prior to the services performed. Charging a fee after that or increasing the estimate without first contacting the customer usually involves such a hefty fine that most places will let you car sit till you call back.

17

the above post was Drachillix not Cyn

18

And it wasn’t even T’s slim jim. Tell him you paid his fee to the guy at the gas station.

19

You know, I think I would have offered to do it for him. And then afterwards, told him that you wanted to charge him $30 and deduct $10 for the fee he paid you two years ago for unlocking your car, but you decided that you just couldn’t stoop so low as to charge a coworker for doing them a favor. Helping your fellow man and all that. And heap it on till he’s groveling, offering to give you your $10 back. :smiley:

20

I completely understand why you didn’t help him, AWB, and his karma did indeed come back to bite him in the bum, but I think your not helping him when you could have made the world a slightly worse place, you know?