An entitled jerk nearly cost me my job after he does some shady business practices that somehow fall on my back. So I decided to get some revenge by investigating his previous jobs. And as a result, I exposed him for committing nearly one million dollars worth of fraud to his customer base. And I've honestly never felt better about getting back at somebody in my life. Here's what happened.
Okay, so I'm going to keep this intentionally vague because this has been a complex situation that requires a lot of backstory. I'm a 29 year old male and I own a specialized equipment cleaning and maintenance company. I've been running the company for the past 12 years. I take great pride in my work and I run an honest business.
We service everything from government facilities to small mom and pop operations, and I try to make everything clear, transparent, and honestly priced as possible. For the last 10 years, I've had a great relationship with a company that we will simply call the big company. Now this big company is a service provider, which is something of a middleman actually in my industry, and they contract me to service roughly 35% of their customer base, and we have grown to have a mutual respect for one another. And they are probably my largest customer.
Well, roughly two years ago, the big company brought on another service provider to contract, which is owned by a shady businessman. This shady jerk claims that he has many different skills and credentials and handles a lot of the more maintenance and installation side of things for the big company.
I often do follow-up work at businesses that he's done installs at, and trust me, it's not good. There's improperly installed equipment, there's crazy repairs, and electrical work that just doesn't make any sense. I mean, it's horrible. Talking to customer after customer, I find that he's taking advantage of their mechanical ignorance, upcharging 400% the price of parts, and even charging double if not triple the usual going hourly rate for this kind of work. For example,
a $300 part that would take two hours to install, he's charging $1,500 just for the part, and another $1,500 for the labor. I mean, this is insane behavior. I mention it to the big company, and they tell me that he's such a knowledgeable and experienced guy, that usually those kinds of guys come at a premium. So I think to myself, whatever, I'm just gonna leave it be and stay in my lane. Well, fast forward to about a year, which is right about the time that my troubles start.
I get a call from the owner of the big company telling me that we have a new account and that they are a little bit more complicated and a little out of our warehouse. They then ask me if I can please take the account. I say to them, sure, and within a week I'm down at the account doing a cleaning and maintenance.
The type of system that they have is a bit more complicated, but I'm very experienced and familiar with these systems, so it's not really an issue. Well, or so I thought. I go to start everything up, and the system isn't turning on properly. The owner comes in and says, hey, we're gonna have to start operations in a little over an hour. Are we good to go? I tell him, well, the system seems to not wanna start. I'm gonna try and track down the issue, and we should be good to go. He gives me a frustrated huff, and then he leaves the room.
15 minutes later, I get a call from the shady businessman. He asked me if I'm on the account that I'm currently at, and when I say yes, he says to me that the owner wants me to stop work immediately and head out, claiming that he's going to be coming down there to take over. Now, the owner comes back in the room and confirms exactly this. He says to me, hey, we're like 45 minutes from open, and we've used the shady businessman in the past.
and we just need to get the system going, so we're gonna use him. So I say to myself, sure, and then I just take off. Well, fast forward and a few days go by, and I get a call from the account. They tell me I'm going to need to call my insurance and file a claim. They say that their system is broken. It needs a new motor, which is gonna be about $58,000 just to repair. We go back and forth for a while with me trying to figure out what they're talking about, and they're adamant that I broke this system on the word of the shady businessman.
The owner then said that I need to call the insurance or I would see them in court. So, I call up my insurance. And they're specific to my industry and have specialists that know the ins and outs of this job. I tell their expert every step I perform to my work. And they say there's no way I damage the motor, but they'll take care of everything that goes on. A little while later, I get a call from the shady businessman.
He says to me, hey man I'm sorry it wasn't meant to be you. I ask him what are you talking about? He then says to me, well to be honest I had done a lot of installation work for this company like six months back and they owe me like $12,000. I figured if their system wasn't working they'd call me in a pinch.
and have to pay me the money they owe me to get me down there. Plus, I'd have some guaranteed work doing the repairs on their system. It was supposed to be one of the big company guys though, and not you, so sorry about that. Now when this guy said that I was livid, this guy basically set up a trap in the system so that when it was being taken apart, the release of this sensor would short the motor.
I try everything I can to get him to admit it again, or even text me or email me or at least say it on the phone, since anything now that I'm collecting is just straight up evidence, but he doesn't fall for it and doesn't say anything further. So I call up my insurance and I tell him exactly what happened.
They say they'll get everything taken care of, and honestly, that's all I can do. I tell the account, which is a pretty small business, and trust me, they're just as livid as I am. See, the thing is, the shady businessman is a smooth talker. He makes up a lot of complicated stuff the customer just doesn't understand, and they just think he's the smartest guy around. So far, he's cost this small business nearly $70,000 in unnecessary work.
I then worn off my customer base from this guy and tried to get word around in the industry a little bit, but it's also hard to do, especially while seeing some bitter dude without any evidence trying to blame shift. Four months go by and I get a call from the account's insurance. It's a standard business insurance and the agent on the other line is a complete jerk. Apparently he worked in the industry for a short while and considers himself an expert.
So imagine a surgeon getting lectured by someone that took an anatomy class one time. This guy was so obnoxious. He's telling me that I need to get a different insurance company because my insurance is garbage. They've denied the claim because they're claiming it's not my fault, and anyone with half a brain can figure out that I'm at fault. I explain the situation to him, and he just thinks I'm some dude trying to avoid accountability.
They've paid out $58,000 for repairs on this system, and they want me to pay $1,000 for the customer's deductible, claiming that this is non-negotiable, either pay up or I will see them in court. Now, at this point, I'm so over this situation, so I just pay the $1,000 and move on. Well, that same day that I'm picking up supplies from a warehouse, I run into the big company's owner and the owner of an even bigger company that I've been trying to pick up as a customer.
We get to talking and I tell them about the insurance call I got, I explain the backstory just a little bit more, and their faces both go pale. Apparently they've both been using this shady businessman, and they've been having all kinds of issues. But he's such a smooth talker that they've never connected it to him.
They begin telling me all the issues they've been having at their different locations, and this is everything from electrical problems to some state-of-the-art equipment that was installed by this guy that created a whole slew of problems that surprise, surprise, only he could fix. Now, at this point, they're curious if I can take over handling his role for them. They want to cut complete ties with him, so I tell them certainly. I've expanded what my business can cover, and we can definitely take over the backlog of work this shady businessman has waiting for him.
The next day, they both send me lists of all the work they're waiting on him to do, and one by one I start putting together quotes for each job. The list they sent me has this shady businessman's existing quote figures on there, and I'm finding that most every quote I'm putting together is half, if not the quarter of the price, and that's being generous to my own wallet. Some jobs include fees for things that sound complicated, but they're just made up terminology.
One job, for example, he has upcharged the equipment costs from $75 for the part all the way up to $600, and he's also charging $1,800 in labor for one man with a two-hour install and has added an additional hazard material charge.
which is not at all a thing we do for this job. And that chart alone is $1,200. So we're talking a $3,600 total to a little mom and pop brick and mortar, but then I step in and drop the material down to $75, the labor down to $600, and drop the hazmat removal entirely. So they went from $3,600 all the way down to $675 only.
Now, we are so specialized that really, there's only a few of us in the state, and this mom and pop felt like they had no choice. On another job, this guy was trying to charge $15,000 in labor for something that literally one guy could have done, plus an additional mileage fee of $400, despite the fact that this guy lives 10 miles away. He also put down a material transportation fee which doesn't even exist, like the six parts that he was bringing to this job could have fit inside of my backpack.
Overall, for this job that I took over, the shady businessman was trying to charge $20,000 for it, but I ended up only charging $3,000 for it. And this is another small business trying to open a second location, and this guy is being so shady and sketchy with his pricing. He's going to drive them out of business as they're trying to take a leap and open a second location. It's honestly so heartbreaking.
All in all, after I priced everything out, he had bid out a little over a million dollars in work for himself over the next six months that I got down to just over $280,000. And I simply could not believe that this is the way he was pricing things.
customers that I've inherited have all been so grateful and gotten me connected with even more work in just a short while. And I've easily doubled my business as a result of this over such a short time. On the other end of things, the shady businessman is apparently not doing well. These smaller businesses have some sort of Facebook group that word has been going around to not use him and has gotten to the bigger businesses and corporations. And now his credentials have been exposed as completely bogus.
businesses that he was doing work for as well as big household names are calling me to take over as their local provider and it really is just the start. So I genuinely hope people start taking legal action against this guy because taking advantage of businesses often struggling to get help simply because you want some money is incredibly toxic and this guy absolutely deserves to get shut down. Wow, that is so sketchy.
It's crazy to me that someone would actually try to charge these kinds of prices and still think that they can get away with it, especially in front of someone like the original poster. Like obviously they know what they're doing and they obviously know how to like price things correctly. So for them to literally shave off what? $800,000 from the original price? Like that's an insane markup from this shady businessman and it is so toxic that he did this to small businesses that are already probably struggling in some way.
So good for the original poster for setting things right, as well as improving their business all off the back of this shady jerk. And hopefully Karma can work its magic by getting this guy in the trouble that he absolutely deserves. If you like Am I the Jerk, you're probably going to love Am I the Genius. Check it out, link down below in the description.
Also, go to amythejerk.com slash submit if you would like to submit your own stories. An entitled Karen and her husband cuss me out and call me horrible names after they don't get exactly what they want at the car rental shop I was working at. And as a result, they not only got banned from renting from our location, but they also got permanently banned from our company nationwide. Here's what happened.
So I was working my shift at a car rental company at our local airport and was helping a customer with swapping a vehicle that he was having an issue with when a group of elderly entitled jerks walks past the customer service booth and out onto our parking lot. There are two rental brands owned by the same company on the lot and there's one that's more of like a hand-holding experience while the other is more of a self-service concept.
So generally, you don't have to stop if you know where you're going. So I assumed, wrongly of course, that this was the latter group of clientele. Another group did what you do when you are unsure of what to do and approached the nearest and only employee working on the lot at the moment just to ask for some kind of directions.
The customer I was originally helping graciously told me he was in no rush, and to go ahead and help this other group. So I say to myself, awesome, that's easy. It will only take a second so I get the moving. Sure enough, as I point the way over to the lanes where they can pick up vehicles from, this entitled Karen comes storming up to me with a wad of paper in her hand. I ask her if she needs help with something, and she says to me, waving the papers in front of me, our reservation says skip the counter and go out to the lot.
But there are no cars parked out there with a brand we reserved. I say to her, yes ma'am, generally we do try to consolidate during low volume days, so you don't have to walk as far to get to the vehicle. Do you mind if I look at your reservation so I can get you all pointed in the right direction? The entitled Karen begrudgingly hands me the confirmation papers, and sure enough, as is typical with this method of doing things, the pages they printed list everything except what size vehicle they booked.
She continued to tell me about how our business is supposed to be run, as if I don't have three years of experience doing it. And, as I finish flipping the pages after finding a reservation number, I begin to say that I'll be happy to check this out. But she interrupted that by angrily snatching the papers out of my hand. Now, while you might not think it, some of these places are very corporate environments, and there is very little room for aggressive behavior. So this was definitely strike one.
I very quickly dropped my higher pitch quirky customer service voice for my serious voice by saying, ma'am, I need you to relax. But when I said that, this is when she started swearing at me while talking about yet again how cars are not where she wanted them to be. At this point, I started waving my hand side to side and I tell her, yeah, at this point we will not be renting you a vehicle. I will go ahead and be canceling your reservation for you.
She looks at me and says, you can tell my husband, but I just say, okay, go ahead. Her husband arrives shortly after her and asks, okay, what's happening? I say to him, sir, your wife has been aggressive and swearing at me, so you will not be renting a car with us this evening, and I'm now going to have to ask you to leave my lot. He looks at me and says, wait, wait, wait, come on, there has to be something we could do. I say to them, you can head back inside because you will not be renting anything from us this evening.
While the men headed inside, this entitled Karen stayed behind. She was asking me, what's your name? I'm gonna leave you a bad review. But I look at her and I say, I'll do you one better. Here's my business card. The entitled Karen looks at me and says, thanks, I'll make sure to tell everybody that you're an absolute jerk. And when she says that, I think to myself, nice, she's doubling down. I think I'll do the exact same thing. As she snatches the card from me, I begin to walk past her to get the reservation sheet from her husband.
She shouts at me, don't you touch me? But I respond back by saying, no one is trying to touch you. Sir, I need to borrow that sheet of paper from you. All of you will be going on our do not rent list. Now, he ignored me while the three of them walked away, but I decided not to further escalate the situation, but I definitely knew that this was not over yet. Now, here's where it gets outrageously stupid.
The cell towers near the airport have been down the past week, and normally I would send a text message notifying my staff about if there was anyone we could not be able to rent to for whatever reason. But because of the cell towers, I couldn't do it. The other manager came back from his lunch break and I was able to quickly tell him I got cussed out all before getting back to guiding people to their cars. And while I was about 30 feet away, I turn around and just take a guess of who you think I see walking around the parking lot.
Yeah, that's right. I see the three people I just turned away for their bad behavior issues. I jog over to the other manager, and I let him know that those were the people I turned down and point out the lady who chose violence. So I turn and jog after them. I say to them, hey, we just had this conversation. You are not renting here.
The husband replies by saying, I already paid to the counter, you have my money, we're taking this SUV and we're leaving. I said to him, well, I'll gladly refund your money, but you are not leaving here in one of our cars. Get your belongings and get out. Now the entire time the wife sat in the backseat, glaring at me like it was my fault that she cannot control herself, while the third man who was with them looked really sad. He ended up approaching me in a last-ditch effort and I truly really felt for this guy. He had cancer and wanted to go to his niece's graduation.
And they would be back in two days, but they just needed some help getting there. And you know what? I wanted to help them. I really did. But like I said, it's a corporate environment. You cannot be aggressive and you cannot cuss me or my staff out before you even actually become my customer. And then still try to get into a vehicle.
All that's going to get you is reported to our risk department, which is pretty rough because being labeled as an adverse risk means that you cannot rent with our car rental brand, which is for many insurance carriers, the number one choice for insurance replacement when you're in an accident, and many insurance companies do not have a second option.
Also, unfortunately for the first man and woman, who narrowly avoided being added to that list when they walked out the first time, I now had access to their reservation with their complete driver's license attached. So honestly, any consequences that have come their way are quite literally their own fault. Wow, this is incredible.
Not only did they get denied service, but they also got banned from that brand across the nation. Like seriously, this is exactly what they deserve. You can't just treat people like garbage, try to double down on what you're gonna do to these people and their jobs, and then be like, oh my god, what's happening? Why are you banning us?
Like that's some really convenient amnesia there, Karen. Where was this sensibility when you were cussing out that person at the front desk? So you know what? In my opinion, they got exactly what they deserved. Because all they needed to do was be reasonable and patient with the front desk worker. And if they had done that, then all of this could have gone away, and they could have seen their niece one last time.
Am I the jerk for not helping my ex-girlfriend in a time of need simply because the way she was acting? Here's what happened. Okay, so for a bit of backstory, me and my ex split up a couple of days ago after a year-long relationship. We met at work and we are coworkers right now.
And with both of us being expats in a European country, we quickly developed an interest in each other and began dating. However, our relationship was tumultuous. She comes from an awful background leading to untreated conditions such as PTSD and anger management issues.
On our last day together following one of our frequent arguments, she left for her place and texted me declaring she wanted no further contact even at work. Well, a few days later, I received a message from her on our work chat telling me that she needs my help like never before. This is an emergency.
Now, I was away from my desk at the time, so I replied later, somewhat distantly, stating that I was busy at the moment, but I could assist her later on the following day. She responded that she had lost all her money in a scam call and she was panicking, unsure of what to do, but I reminded her of her previous request for no contact.
Well, she then followed this by launching into a rage panic attack, blaming me for her loss, suggesting that if I had just responded promptly, she might have avoided the scam altogether, while finally resorting to name calling. Now, it's important to know that I've helped her through the entire course of the relationship in all of her issues, but she always responds by saying that I've never done anything to help her, which is just completely outrageous.
Nevertheless, I agreed to meter to address the immediate problem on the one condition that we would focus solely on finding a solution and nothing else. So I rearranged my schedule, leaving work early and drove to meter. Upon meeting up with her, she began complaining about never having anyone to help her in times of need, which I just chose to ignore and started calmly outlining the available options.
You know, stuff like reporting it to the police or the bank, so I accompanied her to the police station just so she would have someone familiar next to her. When the officer listened to the description of the story, he went to his office to draft a report, leaving us alone in the waiting room.
Well, instantly she goes into trigger mode. She starts shouting, when I say it's an emergency, you should react fast and that's kind of your fault now. No matter what I've told you, now is way different. Now here's the thing, she didn't acknowledge at any point that I was there trying to help. Nor said that she was sorry for anything that she said. My reaction to her comments was to remind her that since she thinks that she deserves better people around her, she should have called them to help her out.
She then responded by saying, I did, but no one answered, which is why I called you. Things finally got to the roof for her where she accused me again that this is kind of my fault, in which my reaction was to get my jacket and just straight up leave. Hours later, I received dozens of messages on how I'm a huge jerk and that I should have never done that to her and that she wishes me the worst.
So seriously, am I at fault in this situation? What should I do? No, I don't think you're the jerk at all. And if anything, I can kind of see why this relationship didn't work out. Like her attitude when you finally do show up and help her out, all she does is blame you and be like, wow, this is your fault. So honestly, if I was in your shoes, I would have walked out as well. Because the way she was acting was completely inappropriate. When you subscribe, make sure to hit the bell to turn on notifications.
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