Picture this – you get an amazing job with even better benefits. It sounds like a dream, but that is far from the truth. Originally posted to Confessions, but they said it would be better here! So, Reddit, AITA?
Last year, I was offered a job for an electric company. It is known for paying well and having good employee benefits. It was nothing major – according to the job posting. Just answer phones, talk to people, seemed easy. It turned out to be way more than that.
While being in training, I realized this job was nothing like the posting. I had to cut off customers’ power, deal with collections, get rid of sympathy entirely, deal with unnecessary stress from other employees, change my entire wardrobe, and much more. I had to conform to things I was very much against. Have you ever heard someone begging for their power on to save a family member? I did. I will share some of my stories below.
I get the command to turn off power at a specific location. I do so, and the resident calls in. In the background, I hear someone struggling to breathe. Her mother was on an oxygen machine and, due to me turning off the electricity, was struggling to breathe (aka, survive). I attempted to speak with other employees, reason to turn the power on, and I was told to keep it off until she could pay her bill, PLUS a deposit on top of that.
An older man called. I noticed his power had been off for maybe three days. He asked if we had any assistance or programs through the company. We did not, so I asked if he had called 211. He did, but their assistance would not come in immediately. So, I had to keep his power off.
Another man had called in. He was due for disconnect that morning and could not pay. Again, I was told there was nothing I could do. No extensions. Nothing. Later that day, he came into the office and collapsed on our floor. When paramedics arrived, he was talking and breathing normally, but he still collapsed and was having a medical episode. All because he could not pay yet, and we did nothing for him.
I would often get called out because of my clothing and how I made supposed mistakes. I am bigger in certain areas, any clothing is going to show that. I was told it was distracting and people were complaining. I could not help this, it was going to show either way. Coworkers would make mistakes and then blame them on me. Then, after revision, it was determined to not be me at fault.
Anyways, just needed to confess some things. Those are only a few stories I recall. This was a while ago, no locations will be revealed. If anyone is interested, I have much more to confess! I feel extremely guilty about what I did, but I was following what I was told to do. It was that or get fired, which I did end up getting fired.
TLDR: I worked for a power company, turned off power for those in need. AITA?
NTA
I say that because it isn’t YOUR fault, and you are doing your job within the confines of company policy.
I get that it sucks. I’d hate to be in that situation. But the AHs here are the ones running the company who have no sense of sympathy or compassion, and no programs in place to help people catch up or deal with emergencies regarding payment.
I don’t know that I could do your job. It must be soul crushing. I’d try to find a different job.
But it isn’t your fault and you aren’t the AH in this situation.
What does your clothing have to do with any of this?
Sorry, this was originally in confessions and I was advised to put it here! Accidentally left it in
YTA. The excuse for war criminals is often “following orders”.
NTA having a shitty job that makes you do shitty things does not make you an asshole. If people want to talk about the bigger system and corporate greed that’s fine. But you are not the policy maker thus not the asshole.
If you would like to make yourself feel a bit better write down in detail anytime you were asked or forced to do anything unethical and include the company name along with the supervisors that ordered you to do it. Send it in to the media and post it online yourself. Probably nothing will happen but maybe one person will avoid working there after seeing the type of company it is. Maybe a couple people will tell their own stories about the company and more people will hear about them.
Ohh I wish I could. Their attorney would have a hayday with me
YTA
Once I moved across the country for a man who made me promises that he quickly decided he didn’t want to keep. I was a single parent, the cost of living had doubled when I moved, I couldn’t afford the place I was living on my own, and now I quite suddenly had to find sufficient employment when what I was supposed to be doing was finishing school.
After six months, I found a full-time job that was exploitative of me in some ways, and occasionally my boss asked me to do something unethical. I did not do those things. I told my boss that I would do what she told me, but then I just didn’t. I had to leave the job sooner than planned because I took a stand against some of the exploitation, and my boss was not willing to budge.
If you know that it’s wrong, don’t do it. An employer that mistreats its customers and its employees the way you describe is probably not going to keep you around for long anyway. There’s no reason to be more loyal to that employer than they would ever be to you.
There are some places in the world where people get misled about what a job will entail and then the company literally holds them hostage, taking their passport, etc., and forcing them to scam people. If no one is holding a gun to your head, I don’t think you have an excuse here.
NTA. I take this post as a vent that is well deserved by you. If the job post was accurate it would probably say “substantial extra money but you have to deal with painfully sad situations.”
Nobody wants to do your job. It makes economical sense to me that you get compensated for making people’s lives miserable, at least until they can pay the company.
You might feel better about your job if you can give good advice to the people about to get cut off, such as assistance programs if they exist.
NTA
There are medical exemptions for electricity shutoff regardless of bills. You should speak with a supervisor regarding these situations, not a co-worker. And if they don’t give you any actual answers besides just do it, you should be able to find someone that knows the legal ramifications and what is allowed.
I did speak with supervisors, they told me there was no other options if the customer didn’t have assistance through 211 or an EAP. I for sure want to find out the legality of it all
NTA, you don’t make the rules
I used to work for a grant making charity – and it sucked having to say “no” to a lot of worthy causes because there simply is not enough money. I can’t imagine having to do that for a ‘for profit’ company, so sympathy to you OP.
As far as the job itself goes – try turning it in your head a little: for all those people you had to disconnect, there were people who could and did continue to pay because the power company stayed in business and could keep its prices at affordable levels for those people because it wasn’t giving any away. Which is only small comfort, as you never get to hear the good stories.
As far as the clothing/corporate stuff goes – sometimes people suck. Sorry.