Revenge!!
This is a true account of a real event. The names remain the same, and nothing has changed to protect the innocent.
I announced that I was leaving the company earlier in the week. I had been working at the company for seven years, and have held four different positions. I felt a certain amount of pride that I had finally realized that a future in the corporate world wasn't for me. I had told some people before I gave my notice that I wondered if any counter-offer would be made to try to make me stay. If I had disguised the fact that I was leaving the television business entirely, would I be valued enough by the company for them to try to entice me into reconsidering.
I folded. To try to put on a rouse long enough for that possibilty to even occur would be wrong. The second the boss asked what I would be moving on to, I knew I couldn't lie, even for amusement with him. So he thanked me for giving ample notice, wished me well on my new endevor, and hung up.
Later in the week, I had been told by supervisors that they would talk to me about my job, how best to get the workload divided among the rest of the staff until a replacement or restructure would be in place. I got the call at 4 o'clock to come into to one of their offices, and below is an email of the rest of the story.
Mark,
I am sending this to you, along with the parties involved as Employee Relations requested.
On Thursday, March 6th I was called into Terri G.'s office, where Jason Z. was as well. The door was closed, and Terri and Jason told me that you wanted me to stay on with the department, and that you had made a counter offer to entice me to stay; doubling my salary. They said that they knew I was leaving, and said that they mentioned this fact to you, that I would probably wouldn't be interested in staying on. My position would be promoted, and I would have to take on more responsibility, and I would have to work in the city.
As you know, you made no such offer. I asked them if they were serious, and Jason told me he was absolutely serious, they weren't joking at all. They both looked stoic in their faces; I explained that when I signed on to the company, I took a 15k salary cut, expecting to be promoted along at some point, but that never happened. Since my career didn't seem to be moving along, I started exploring getting out of the television business entirely, which is how I came upon the horse farm I am purchasing in North Carolina.
For about five minutes, we discussed other aspect of my job, how responsibilities would be carried our by other people, and I notice Jason has an odd look on his face, one of disbelief. I ask him what's going on, and he said nothing, he was just amazed by the other thing... I ask him if he was surprised or upset that a counter offer was made, and he says with no fanfare that they (Terri and himself) were just joking, that there was no offer made. He then goes on to say that he has never known anyone to receive a counter offer to stay on in the company.
I would like to think I am a good sport about things, having had practical jokes pulled on me in the past, I do have a sense on how they go. When they said a counter offer was made, and I asked if they were serious, that is when they should have revealed it was a joke. Waiting and allowing me to discuss how I felt was simply malicious and mean-spirited. The entire time afterwards I spent thinking about how my mother would react when I tell her that my department did in fact value my contributions and they recognized my talents. That elation was ripped away from me. I thought to myself that I have obviously done these two people wrong, whatever friendship that I thought I have had with them was false.
Now of course, I think that they using an official setting, using your name, and how they presented it must be of concern to you, not to mention the fact that if I accepted the offer they presented what the ramifications that would cause. I leave how you want to handle that up to you. I don't know how you want to handle any of this, but coming to work these next two weeks and working in this environment is stressful at the very least. I didn't want to make a big thing about this, but after the tension I felt on Friday, I felt I had to air this out, which is when I contacted Employee Relations. They told me if I didn't want to file an official grievance, that this was the best way to handle it. I have included the parties involved in this email as well so they will have a record of my side of the story.
Thank you for your time in regards to this matter,
Kris B.
Now, I sent this email on Monday
morning, after feeling particularly depressed on Friday of the events that occured. Less
than an hour later, I saw Terri and Jason looking stoic, and as I went and got coffee, I
heard Jason say, "There he is." I wondered what kind of conference was going on,
so I walked by the office to spy on the proceedings. I get called in.
"Kris, we got your email, and we called Mark and Employee Relations... and we just wanted to apologize," Terri said
Jason, is looking rattled, sitting in the same chair as he was the day they played that joke on me. They both go on to explain that they had no intentions of hurting anyone's feelings, that they did consider me a friend, they realize what they did was terrible, and apologized over and over again.
"And you called Mark and Employee Relations?" I asked
"Yes," replied Jason.
"Because, I never sent them the email, just you two. I wanted you to feel what its' like to have a joke played on you like that," I said.
See, it took me all weekend, but I figured out that if I sent the email to myself, and Blind Copied them on the email, it would look official enough, and they wouldn't get suspicious. Jason's face lost color. They go on to explain that even if I had, it certainly would have been okay, that they would have answered to what they have done. My revenge plan worked; I had jerked their chain harder than they had jerked mine.